U  -  i 


I  ALUMNI  LIBRARY,  * 

*    THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,    | 

^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


BR  325  .S34  Iojj    V.2 
Scott,  John,  1777-1834. 
Luther  and  the  Lutheran 
reformation 


j«»-v     MT'^nk,      ..i*ru 


■^-y^< 


M'M  ILAI^fBirMDn 


.YOEK    T  &•  J.  HAEPEE 


Harper's  Stereotype  Edition. 


LUTHER, 


LUTHERAN   REFORMATION. 


BY 


JOHN    SCOTT,   M.A. 

VICAR   OF   NORTH    FERRIBY,  AND    MINISTER    OF    ST.  MARY'S, 
HULL,    ETC. 


IN   TWO   VOLUMES. 
VOL.  IL 


NEW- YORK  : 

PRINTED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  J.  &  J.  HARPER, 

NO.    82    CLIFF-STREET, 

80LD   BY   THE   BOOKSELLERS   GENERALLY   THROUGHOUT   THB 
UNITED    STATES. 

183  3. 


CONTENTS 

OF 
THE      SECOND      VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Page 

Recapitulation — Diet  of  Augsburg — Confession  of  Augs- 
burg— Proceedings  respecting  the  Confession — Luther — 
Concluding  Transactions  and  Recess  of  the  Diet    -        -      7 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Protestant  Measures  of  Defence — League  of  Smalkald — 
Pacification  of  Nuremberg— Death  of  the  Elector  John, 
and   Succession    of   John    Frederic — Progress    of  the 
Reformation — Writings  of  Luther  -        -        -        -    41 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Erasmus  on  Concord  in  the  Church — Persecutions — 
Reformation  extended — Anabaptists  af  Munster — Henry 
VIII.  and  Francis  I. — Pope's  Commission  for  Reforma- 
tion— Roman  Cathohc  League — Convention  of  Frankfort    56 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Luther's  Interview  with  Vergerio— Concord  of  Wittemberg 
—Ecclesiastical  Funds— Luther's  Illness  and  Prayer — 
Character  of  Popery — Luther's  alleged  Conference  with 
Satan— His  Writings 74 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Death  of  George  of  Saxony,  and  Succession  of  Henry- 
Reformation  of  his  Dominions,  and  of  the  Electorate  of 


4  CONTENTS. 

Paga 

Brandenburg — Joachim  II. — Conferences  of  Haguenau, 
Worms,  and  Ratisbon — Gropper's  Book — Misconduct  of 
the  Landgrave — Dangerous  Ilhiess  of  Melancthon  -    93 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Progress    of  the  Reformation — Germany — Denmark  and 
Sweden — France — Austria — Italj'^ — Luther's  Writings — 
Agricola  and  Antinomianism 113 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Maurice  succeeds  Henry  of  Saxony — His  Line  of  PoUcy — 
Henry  of  Brunswick  expelled — Reformation  of  his  Terri- 
tories— Situation  of  the  Protestants — Herman  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne — The  Bishop  of  Munster — The 
Princes  of  Henneberg 131 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
George  Prince  of  Anhalt — Bugenhagius  Pomeranus — Diet 
of  Worms — Council  of  Trent — Alarm  of  the  Protestants 
— Their  Leaders — Artifices  of  the  Emperor — Diet  and 
Conferences  of  Ratisbon  —  Preparations  for  War- 
Reformation  of  the  Lower  Palatinate,  and  of  Leutkirk      154 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Closing  Transactions  of  Luther's  Life — His  Death — His 
Character — His  later  Writings 179 

CHAPTER  XXVL 

The  War  of  Smalkald — Elector  of  Saxony  deposed,  and 
Maurice  advanced  in  his  room — Conduct  of  John  Fred- 
eric in  Captivity — The  Interim  estabUshed — Conduct  of 

Melancthon 217 

CHAPTER  XXVIL 

Proceedings  of  Maurice — He  attacks  and  surprises  the 
Emperor — Treaty  of  Passau — Death  of  Maurice — Peace 
of  Religion — Extracts  from  Melancthon's  Writings — Pro- 
gress of  Reformation — Controversies — Reflections  -  252 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Remainder  of  Melancthon's  History — Further  Extracts  from 
his  Epistles — His  Works — Notices  of  Lutheran  Reform- 
ers     280 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
P.  P.  Vergerio,  and  Francis  Spira — Juan  Diaz — The  Wal- 
denses  of  Provence — The  Council  of  Trent    ...  313 


A2 


^■? 


^'^^ 


the"^ 


.^t- 


LUTHERAN   REFORMATION 


CHAPTER  XYII. 


Hecapitulation — Diet  of  Augshiirg — Confessioyi  of  Augsburg 
— Proceedings  respecting  the  Confession — Luther — Con- 
cluding  Transactions  and  Recess  of  the  Diet. 

The  diet  of  Augsburg  forms  an  era  in  the  history  of  the 
reformation  :  and  the  proceedings  of  that  assembly  are  next 
to  engage  our  attention. 

The  blessed  reformation  had  now  been  thirteen  years  in 
progress.  Its  origin,  its  preservation,  its  advancement,  had 
all  been  alike  beyond  human  expectation.  It  had  seemed 
throughout  to  maintain  a  precarious  existence,  dependent 
on  the  will  of  its  adversaries.  And  scarcely  ever  before  had 
those  adversaries  shown  themselves  deficient  either  in  vigour 
or  sagacity  ;  but,  in  their  treatment  of  the  reformation  in 
its  earlier  stages,  a  remarkable  want  of  those  qualities  had 
been  manifested.  Their  disunion  among  themselves,  and 
the  distractions  arising  to  the  emperor  Charles  V.  from  the 
rivalry  existing  between  him  and  Francis  I.  King  of  France, 
and  to  the  popes  from  their  jealousy  of  both  these  poten- 
tates ;  together  with  the  alarms  excited  by  the  threatening 
advances  of  the  Turks  :  these,  sometimes  conjointly  and 
sometimes  separately,  proved  the  means  of  sheltering  the 
reformation,  till  it  gradually  acquired  that  root  and  establish- 
ment which  no  human  power  could  subvert.  But,  in  fact, 
it  was  the  work  of  God  ;  and  the  greatest  and  best  of  his 
works  for  the  children  of  men  in  these  latter  ages  ;  and  he 
would  not  suffer  "  the  gates  of  hell  to  prevail  against  it." 
He  caused  all  these  agents  and  events,  and  whatever  others 


8  DIET    OF    AUGSBURG. 

ma3^be  pointed  out  as  having  contributed  to  the  grand  result, 
to  fulfil  his  purposes.  The  friends  and  promoters  of  the 
great  cause  were  made  to  feel  constantly  their  dependence 
upon  him  ;  but  the  requisite  help  was  never  withheld  in  the 
time  of  need. 

Amid  the  divisions  and  disorders  (as  they  were  esteemed) 
to  which  the  proceedings  of  Luther  and  his  coadjutors, 
in  exposing  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  had  given  occasion,  the  great  remedy  to  which  the 
hopes  of  all  those  who  wished  to  combine  some  reformation 
of  abuses  with  the  preservation  of  the  sort  of  order  which 
had  previously  subsisted  in  the  Christian  world,  were  directed 
was  the  convocation  of  a  general  council.  Much  as 
such  assemblies  had  hitherto  disappointed  the  expectations 
entertained  from  them,  the  repetition  of  the  experiment  was 
the  only  resource  which  suggested  itself.  The  reformers, 
whether  they  looked  for  any  very  satisfactory  result  from  the 
deliberations  of  a  council,  or  not,  yet  acted  prudently  in 
appealing  to  one  :  the  princes  and  people,  in  general,  felt 
the  necessity  of  sometliing  being  done,  which  only  such  an 
assembly  was  thought  properly  authorized  to  do  :  the  court 
of  Rome  alone  stood  cordially  opposed  to  the  measure  ;  and 
they  could  not  with  decency  openly  reject  the  numerous  and 
repeated  applications  made,  from  the  very  highest  quarters, 
for  the  calling  of  a  council,  under  such  circumstances  as 
might  induce  all  to  refer  the  points  in  dispute  to  its  decision. 

Clement  VII, ,  however,  who  now  filled  the  papal  chair, 
viewed  the  convocation  of  a  council  with  a  degree  of  aver- 
sion and  dread  surpassing  that  usually  manifested  by  those 
who  had  occupied  his  situation.  The  proceedings  of  the 
councils  of  Pisa  and  Constance,  which  had  deposed  the 
popes  Benedict  XIII.,  Gregory  XII.,  and  .lohn  XXIII.,  ex 
cited  his  fears  ;  and  the  circumstances  of  his  own  birth  an^ 
elevation  (neither  of  which  was  free  from  reproach)  con 
firmed  his  terrors. 

The  emperor,  after  spending  several  months  with  him  in 
the  same  palace  at  Bologna,  was  fully  instructed  in  the  views 
of  his  holiness,  and  at  his  late  coronation  had  sworn  "  to  be, 
with  all  his  powers  and  resources,  the  perpetual  defender  of 
the  pontifical  dignit}^  and  of  the  Church  of  Rome  :"  though 
we  must  conclude,  that  he  neither  felt  himself  inclined  if  he 
had  been  able,  nor  able  if  he  had  been  inclined,  to  carry 


DIET  OF  AUGSBURG.  9 

matters  with  that  high  hand  against  the  adherents  of  the 
reformation  which  the  pope  would  have  wished.  As  how- 
ever a  council  was  so  much  dreaded  by  Clement,  that  he 
would  offer  none  but  upon  terms  which  he  knew  would  be 
rejected  by  the  Protestants,  the  effect  of  a  diet  of  the  empire 
was  once  more  to  be  tried  ;  and  this,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
been  summoned  to  meet  at  Augsburg  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1530. 

This  celebrated  diet  was  the  sixth  before  which  the  sub- 
ject of  the  religious  differences  in  Germany  had  been 
brought.  The  first  was  that  of  Worms  in  1521,  which  pro- 
scribed Luther  as  an  excommunicated  heretic.  The  second, 
that  of  Nuremberg  in  1522-3,  distinguished  by  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  "  hundred  grievances."  The  decree  of  this  diet 
virtually  abrogated  the  edict  of  Worms.  The  third,  again 
held  at  Nuremberg,  1523-4,  where  the  members  resolved  to 
observe  the  edict  of  Worms  "  as  far  as  they  could."  The 
fourth,  convoked  at  Augsburg,  1525,  and  afterward  ad- 
journed to  Spires,  1526.  Here  a  general  council  was 
demanded,  and  all  left  at  liberty  till  it  should  be  held.  The 
fifth,  that  of  Spires  again,  in  1529,  which  produced  the  pro-' 
test  whence  the  Protestayits  derived  their  name. 

The  diet  of  Augsburg,  summoned  for  the  8th  of  April, 
had  been  postponed  to  the  1st  of  May  :  and  it  was  not 
opened  till  the  arrival  of  the  emperor  in  the  middle  of  June. 

Before  entering  upon  the  business  of  the  diet,  it  may  be 
useful  further  to  recall  to  the  reader's  memory  the  principal 
leaders  on  both  sides.  On  that  of  the  papists  there  were, 
besides  the  emperor  Charles  V.  and  his  brother  Ferdinand,  the 
pope's  legate  Campeggio,  Joachim  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
George  Duke  of  Saxony,  and  William  of  Bavaria.  Henry 
Duke  of  Brunswick  was  on  the  same  side  :  but  he  was  at 
this  time  comparatively  moderate ;  though  he  afterward 
became  one  of  the  most  violent.  The  same  was  to  a  con- 
siderable decrree  the  case  with  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  and 
Elector  of  Mentz,  brother  to  Joachim  of  Brandenburg,  and 
the  first  prince  of  the  empire.  The  name  of  the  Archbishop 
and  Elector  of  Cologne  also  occurs  ;  but  he  seems  to  have 
taken  no  active  part  in  this  diet.  Perhaps  he  was  already 
well  disposed  towards  reformation  ;  and  we  shall  ultimately 
find  him  a  confessor  and  sufferer  in  the  cause  of  Protestant- 
ism.    To  these  are  to  be  added  two  papal  nuncios,  Chere- 


10  DIET  OF   AUGSBURG. 

gato  and  Pimpinello  ;  and  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Salz- 
burg. The  Bishop  of  Augsburg  also  was  one  of  this  party, 
though  he  acted  on  more  than  one  occasion  a  renjarkable 
part,  more  favourable  to  the  Protestants  than  any  of  the 
rest. 

On  the  side  of  the  Protestants  were  John,  surnamed  the 
Constant,  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  his  son  John  Frederic  ; 
Philip  Landgrave  of  Hesse  ;  George  Marquis  (not  Elector) 
of  Brandenburg  ;  Ernest  and  Francis  Dukes  of  Lunenburg  ; 
Wolfgang  prince  of  Anhalt;  Albert  Count  Mansfeldt ;  and 
Count  Philip  of  Hanover  :  to  which  are  to  be  added  the 
deputies  of  several  imperial  cities. 

Each  party  also  brought  with  them  some  of  their  princi- 
pal divines,  to  whose  assistance  recourse  might  be  had  as 
circumstances  should  require.  Faber,  Eckius,  Cochlasus, 
and  De  Wimpina  were  among  those  of  the  papal  party: 
Melancthon,  Justus  Jonas,  .Spalatinus,  Schnepfius,  and  Agri- 
cola  were  the  chief  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants.  Bucer, 
Hedio,  and  Capito  also  attended  from  Strasburg,  but  they 
leaned  more  to  Zwingle  than  to  Luther.  The  Elector  of 
Saxony  took  Luther  with  him  as  far  as  Coburg,  but  perhaps 
fearing  for  his  safety,  he  left  him  in  the  castle  of  that  city, 
as  a  place  at  once  of  security  and  convenience,  where  he 
might  be  informed  of  what  passed,  and  give  his  counsel 
if  required. 

The  emperor  had  been  met  at  Inspruck  by  several  of  the 
electors  and  princes  of  the  empire.  Accompanied  by  these 
personages,  his  brother  Ferdinand,  Campeggio,  the  am- 
bassadors of  France,  England,  and  Portugal,  and  met  by  all 
the  other  princes  and  grandeds  at  some  distance  from  the 
city,  he  entered  Augsl)urg  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  of 
June.  On  the  approach  of  the  princes  who  came  out  of  the 
city  to  meet  him,  the  emperor  and  his  brother  dismounted, 
and  received  them  in  the  most  gracious  manner,  but  the 
legate  and  cardinals  sat  still  on  their  mules.  The  legate 
also,  to  draw  the  more  attention  to  his  official  character  and 
authority,  seized  this  opportunity  of  pronouncing  his  bene- 
diction, which  the  emperor  and  the  princes  of  that  party 
humbly  knelt  down  to  receive  ;  while  the  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony and  his  associates  continued  standing.  In  the  cathe- 
dral some  contest,  it  appears,  arose  concerning  the  bene- 
diction.    The  Cardinal  of  Salzburg  came  forward  to  pro- 


DIET    OF   AUGSBURG.  11 

nounce  it :  but  he  was  indignantly  repelled  by  the  legate, 
■who  chose  again  to  perform  that  service  himself. 

The  day  of  the  emperor's  entry  into  Augsburg  had  been, 
probably  by  design,  deferred  to  the  eve  of  the  festival  of 
Corpus  Christi,  when  a  solemn  procession  of  the  host  took 
place.  Late  in  the  evening  the  emperor  sent  for  the  Prot- 
estant princes,  and  signified  to  them  his  pleasure  that  they 
should  attend  him  in  the  procession  of  the  ensuing  day. 
Having  anticipated  the  demand  made  upon  them,  the  princes 
promptly  replied,  that  it  was  contrary  to  their  consciences 
to  do  it.  The  Marquis  of  Brandenburg  was  their  spokes- 
man ;  and  he,  having  received  a  sharp  answer  from  Ferdi- 
nand, placed  his  hand  on  his  neck,  and  made  this  memora- 
ble delaration,  "  Rather  would  I  instantly  kneel  down,  and 
in  the  emperor's  presence  submit  my  neck  to  the  execu- 
tioner, than  prove  unfaithful  to  God,  and  receive  or  sanc- 
tion antichristian  error."  The  emperor  merely  observed, 
with  mildness  and  address,  "  That  there  was  no  intention 
to  take  any  man's  life."  The  next  morning  the  demand 
was  renewed,  and  the  discussion  concerning  it  was  pro- 
tracted so  long  as  to  delay  the  procession  some  hours  be- 
yond the  appointed  time.  Here  again  the  Marquis  of  Bran- 
denburg declared,  "  In  the  present  cause,  which  pertains  to 
God,  I  am  compelled  by  an  immutable  Divine  command  to 
resist  all  impositions  of  this  kind,  whatever  may  be  the  con- 
sequence, since  it  is  written,  '  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  man.'  For  the  confession,  therefore,  of  the  doctrine 
which  I  know  to  be  the  word  of  Christ,  and  eternal  truth,- 1 
decline  no  danger,  not  even  that  of  life  itself,  which  I  hear  is 
threatened  by  some." 

All  efforts  to  prevail  with  the  Protestant  princes  having 
proved  fruitless,  the  procession  was  celebrated  without 
them,  but  with  great  pomp.  The  popish  historian  observes, 
"  This  was  the  triumph  of  Christ  at  Augsburg,  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lutherans  !"  The  pious  Seckendorf  more  justly 
rejoins,  "  It  was  the  triumph  indeed  of  the  pope  and  his 
party,  not  of  Christ ;  but  so  conducted  that  the  real  honour 
of  the  day,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  his  saints,  belonged  to 
those  princes  and  others,  few  in  number,  and  of  compara- 
tively small  power,  whom  neither  the  dread  majesty  of 
Csesar,  nor  all  the  dangers  that  threatened  them,  could  pre- 
vail with  to  do  any  thing  contrary  to  their  consciences." 


12  DIET   OF   AUGSBURG. 

The  Elector  of  Saxony  was  next  required,  by  virtue  of 
his  office  of  marshal,  to  carry  the  sword  before  the  em- 
peror to  the  mass.  While  it  was  thought  that  this  would 
prove  a  still  more  odious  imposition  than  the  former,  the 
elector's  divines  and  advisers  viewed  the  matter  in  a  differ- 
ent light.  The  case,  they  said,  varied  materially  from  that 
of  the  procession.  There  their  master  had  no  official  duty 
to  perform,  but  here  he  was  called  to  discharge  a  civil  office 
— "  to  render  service  to  the  emperor,  not  worship  to  God." 
Having  therefore  premised  an  explanation  of  his  views,  he 
complied  with  the  emperor's  demand,  signifying  his  dissent 
from  the  religious  service  by  abstaining  from  bowing  to  the 
host.  As  the  late  instance  proved  how  firm  the  Protestants 
could  be  where  principle  required  it,  their  present  conduct 
showed  their  readiness  to  comply  where  conscience  would 
permit. 

On  another  subject,  some  degree  of  contention  had  com- 
menced, even  before  the  emperor's  arrival  at  Augsburg. 
The  chaplains  of  the  Protestant  princes,  both  in  the  places 
they  passed  through,  and  after  they  arrived  at  Augsburg, 
preached  frequently  in  the  churches.  Though  they  ab- 
stained as  much  as  might  be  from  controversy,  and  applied 
themselves  directly  to  the  edification  of  the  people,  this  pro- 
ceeding naturally  gave  umbrage  to  their  enemies  ;  and  the 
emperor,  accordingly,  before  he  moved  from  Inspruck,  sig- 
nified his  pleasure  that  the  practice  should  cease.  This  had 
been  foreseen,  and  the  course  to  be,  in  consequence, 
adopted  had  been  made  the  subject  of  previous  deliberation 
among  the  Protestants.  The  divines  decided  in  favour 
of  submission  to  the  emperor,  and  Luther  fully  concurred 
with  them.  The  princes,  however,  seem  to  have  been  more 
tenacious,  and  notwithstanding  the  emperor's  letters,  the 
preaching  was  not  discontinued  till  some  days  after  his 
arrival ;  and  not  even  then  by  an  absolute  surrender,  but 
only  by  compromise — the  emperor  engaging  to  impose 
silence  on  the  divines  of  the  popish  as  well  as  of  the  Pro- 
testant part}!-,  and  to  appoint  such  preachers  exclusively  as 
all  might  hear  without  offence  to  their  consciences. 

It  may  deserve  to  be  recorded,  at  least  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  what  were  the  habits  of  the  times,  that  the  day 
before  the  diet  opened  (being  Sunday),  the  emperor  received 
the  holy  sacrament,  and  spent  two  hours  of  the  evening  in 


CONFESSION    OF   AUGSBURG.  13 

retired  devotion,  "besides  the  hour  which  he  thus  employed 
every  morning."  Concerning  the  good  Elector  of  Saxony 
we  are  told,  "  After  hearing  the  opening  speech  in  the  diet, 
he  called  together  the  friends  of  the  reformation,  and  ex- 
horted them  to  an  intrepid  assertion  of  the  cause  of  God  and 
religion  ;  and  the  next  morning,  having  ordered  all  his 
counsellors  and  attendants  to  retire,  he  poured  forth  most 
fervent  supplications  to  God  for  the  success  of  the  great 
business  in  hand ;  and  then,  for  the  confirmation  of  his  own 
mind,  committed  to  writing  some  things  which  Dolzig 
(one  of  his  counsellors)  and  Melancthou  perused  with 
admiration. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  the  diet  was  opened  with  a  long 
speech  in  the  emperor's  name,  read  by  Frederic  Count 
Palatine.  It  turned  principally  upon  two  points.  The 
first  was  the  necessity  of  adopting  vigorous  measures  against 
the  Turks,  who,  under  their  Sultan  Solyman,  had  taken 
Belgrade,  conquered  Rhodes,  besieged  Vienna,  and,  in 
short,  threatened  all  Europe.  The  other  point  was,  the 
"  unhappy  religious  differences"  in  Germany,  on  which  the 
princes  and  states  were  invited,  though  cautiously  and 
coldly,  to  unfold  their  sentiments.  It  was  agreed  on  all 
hands  that  the  subject  of  religion  should  first  come  under 
consideration.  On  the  22d  of  .Tune,  therefore,  the  em- 
peror gave  notice  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  his  friends, 
that  at  the  next  session,  to  be  held  on  the  24th,  they 
should  present  a  summary  of  their  faith,  and  an  account 
of  the  reformation  of  abuses  which  they  demanded.  Ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  the  summons  and  the  emperor's 
letters,  the  one  party  as  well  as  the  other  should  have  been 
required  to  present  the  articles  of  their  faith  upon  the  points 
in  question :  the  Protestants  however  alone,  as  being  the 
innovators,  were  thus  called  upon,  and  the  Romanists  were 
saved  the  trouble  and  peril  of  presenting  a  direct  object  of 
examination  to  their  opponents. 

The  elector  and  his  friends  were  prepared  to  meet  the 
demand  made  upon  them.  "  The  Confession,"  or  as  it  was 
at  that  time  called,  "  The  Apology,"  had  been  drawn  up  for 
some  time.  Luther  had  furnished  the  materials,  particu- 
larly in  certain  articles,  which,  from  the  place  where  they 
were  presented  to  the  elector,  were  called  the  Articles  of 
Torgau  :  but  it  received  its  form  from  the  clear  and  ek)quont 

Vol.  XL— B 


14  CONFESSION 

pen  of  Melancthon,  who  was  revising  and  retouching  it  to 
the  very  last  moment,  with  a  minute  anxiety  which  Luther 
thought  superfluous. 

On  the  day  appointed,  business  commenced  at  so  late  an 
hour,  and  so  much  time  was  occupied  with  preliminary 
and  little  more  than  mere  formal  proceedings,  as  to  furnish 
the  emperor,  no  doubt  designedly,  with  a  plausible  pretext 
for  refusing  to  hear  the  Confession  read  :  for,  as  it  was  the 
object  of  the  Protestants  to  give  it  the  utmost  publicity,  so 
it  was  the  aim  of  their  adversaries  to  have  it  passed  over 
with  as  little  notice  as  possible. 

At  length,  however,  the  stage  was  open,  and  the  elector 
arose,  attended  by  the  several  princes  his  friends  ;  and, 
standing  near  the  throne,  he,  by  Pontanus  his  ex-chan- 
cellor (a  man  of  eminent  piety,  eloquence,  and  experience 
in  affairs),  entreated  to  have  the  "  Apology,"  which  they 
had  prepared,  read,  "that  their  real  doctrines,  and  the 
observances  of  their  religion,  might  be  known,  and  that  the 
great  misapprehensions,  and  the  consequent  odium,  under 
which  they  lay,  might  be  removed."  With  this  request  the 
emperor  refused  to  comply;  ordering  the  papers  to  be 
delivered  to  him,  and  promising  to  hear  them  the  next  day 
in  private.  To  this  the  princes  earnestly  and  strenuously 
objected,  and  pressed  for  permission  to  read  them  in  the 
full  diet — urging  that  the  case  was  one  which  concerned 
their  reputation,  their  fortunes,  their  lives,  and  even  the 
salvation  of  their  souls.  At  all  events,  they  pleaded  to  be 
allowed  to  retain  their  papers  in  their  own  hands  till  they 
could  be  heard.* — At  length,  he  agreed  that  they  should 
retain  them,  and  that  he  would  hear  them  the  next  day; 
not,  however,  in  the  full  diet,  but  in  the  hall  which  served 
the  purpose  of  a  chapel  in  the  episcopal  palace  where  he 
resided. 

On  Saturday,  therefore,  the  25th  of  June,  the  princes 
and  dignitaries  of  the  empire,  with  the  representatives  of 
such  as  were  personally  absent,  assembled — none  but  official 
characters  being  admitted;  and  the  Protestant  princes,  and 
the  deputies  of  the  imperial  cities  of  Nuremberg  and  Reut- 

*  They  too  well  knew,  that  if  once  previously  examined  in  private, 
their  papers  would  never  be  heard  in  public. 


OF    AUGSBURG.  15 

linger),  with  Christian  Bayer,  the  elector's  chancellor,  and 
Pontanus  presented  themselves — Bayer  bearing  a  German, 
and  Pontanus  a  Latin  copy  of  the  Confession.  The  em- 
peror wished  the  Latin  copy  to  be  read  ;  but  the  elector, 
proposing  his  request  in  terms  which  would  have  made  the 
rejection  of  it  unpopular,  said,  "As  we  are  in  Germany,  I 
trust  your  majesty  will  allow  us  to  speak  German  ;"  and 
the  emperor  assented.  Bayer  therefore  read  deliberately, 
and.  in  so  audible  a  voice  as  to  be  heard  beyond  the  hall, 
in  the  court  below,  the  whole  of  the  Confession  and  its 
appendages — which  occupied  him  two  hours.  When  he 
had  finished,  both  the  copies  were  offered  to  the  imperial 
secretary,  but  the  eriiperor  himself  took  the  Latin  one,  and 
then  courteously  dismissed  the  assembly,  causing  it  to  be 
signified  to  the  parties  that  he  would  take  the  subject  into 
his  most  serious  consideration. 

This  public  reading  of  a  document  which  asserted  all  the 
great  principles  of  Protestantism,  and  openly  impugned  the 
errors,  doctrinal  and  practical,  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  was 
to  Luther  a  matter  of  great  triumph  and  devout  exultation. 
"Our  adversaries,"  he  writes  to  the  elector,  "think  they 
have  succeeded  to  admiration,  in  procuring  the  preaching 
to  be  stopped  by  an  imperial  prohibition  ;  but,  poor  men  ! 
they  do  not  perceive,  that  by  the  exhibition  of  a  written 
confession  to  the  emperor,  more  is  done  to  make  known  and 
proj)agate  our  doctrine  than  perhaps  ten  preachers  could 
have  effected.  Lslebius  (Agricola),  it  is  true,  and  the  other 
divines,  are  silenced  ;  but  forth  come  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
and  the  other  princes  and  lords  with  a  written  confession 
of  faith  in  their  hands,  and  preach  with  all  possible  freedom 
before  his  imperial  majesty  and  the  whole  empire,  in  the 
view  of  all  the  world,  so  that  they  are  forced  to  ftear,  and 
can  say  nothing  against  it !  .  .  .  Truly  Christ  is  not  silent 
in  the  diet!  .  .  .  Thus  is  that  accomplished  which  is  written, 
'  The  Word  6f  God  is  not  bound.'  No  :  if  it  is  prohibited 
in  pulpits,  it  shall  be  heard  in  the  palaces  of  kings." 

Tf  the  public  reading  of  the  Confession  were  a  subject 
of  rejoicing  to  Luther,  much  more  might  the  wide  extended 
publication  of  it,  which  soon  followed,  be  so.  The  printing 
of  the  Confession,  or  of  any  thing  relating  to  it,  was  indeed 
for  the  present  forbidden ;  but  it  was  soon  translated  into 


16  CONFESSION 

numerous  languages,  and  manuscript  copies  were  dispersed 
in  all  the  courts  of  Europe.* 

But,  in  fact,  the  immediate  effects  of  the  Confession 
were  such  as  to  justify  a  large  portion  of  the  joy  and 
triumph  which  Luther  expressed  on  the  occasion.  Mosheim 
says,  "  The  princes  heard  it  with  the  deepest  attention  and 
recollection  of  mind :  it  confirmed  some  in  the  principles 
they  had  embraced  ;  surprised  others ;  and  many,  who 
before  this  time  had  little  or  no  idea  of  the  religious  senti- 
ments of  Luther,  were  now  not  only  convinced  of  their 
innocence,  but,  moreover,  delighted  with  their  purity  and 
simplicity."  Father  Paul  also  observes,  "  It  is  not  to  be 
omitted,  that  Cardinal  Matthew  Langi,  Archbishop  of  Salz- 
burg, told  every  one,"  after  hearing  the  Confession,  "  that 
the  reformation  of  the  mass  was  becoming,  the  liberty 
of  meats  proper,  and  the  demand  to  be  disburdened  of  so 
many  commandments  of  men,  just;  but  that  a  poor  monk 
should  reform  all  was  not  to  be  endured." 

But  of  another  prelate,  Christopher  Von  Stadion,  Bishop 
of  Augsburg,  we  have  a  much  more  promising  account. 
After  hearing  the  Confession,  he  is  related  to  have  said, 
"  What  has  been  recited  is  true ;  pure  truth ;  we  cannot 
deny  it."  And  some  time  after,  when  he  was  among  the 
commissioners  appointed  to  bring  about,  if  possible,  an 
agreement  between  the  parties,  the  following  occurrence 
took  place.  "After  much  dispute,  the  Bishop  of  Augs- 
burg, the  diocesan  of  the  place,  and  a  man  of  prudence 
and  firmness,  rose,  and,  in  a  pious  and  solemn  discourse, 
entreated  the  princes  and  prelates  to  guard,  with  anxious 
care,  against  determining  any  thing  contrary  to  the  Word 
of  God,  and  inconsistent  with  rectitude  and  justice.  It  was 
too  true,"  he  said,  "  and  manifest  to  all  men,  that  the 
Lutherans,  in  what  they  maintained,  had  hitherto  opposed 
no  one  article  of  the  Christian  faith ;  and  this  being  the 
case,  it  became  all  who  feared  God  and  loved  peace  ear- 
nestly and  frequently  to  consider  by  what  means  the  ancient 
tranquillity  might  be  restored  and  preserved."  On  hearing 
him  utter  these  sentiments,  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg 
demanded,  "  Whence  came  this  sudden  change,  and  unex- 

'  *  It  was  translated  into  Italian  for  the  pope,  who  was  but  a  poor 
Latinist !— Melch.  Adam. 


OF    AUGSBURG.  17 

pected  sanctity  1 — for  he  distinctly  remembered,"  he  said, 
"  to  have  heard  from  the  prelate's  mouth  other  sentiments, 
and  other  feelings  than  these,  concerning  religion."  The 
Bishop  of  Augsburg  replied,  "  I  do  not  deny  that  in  the 
course  of  my  life  hitherto  I  have  done  many  things  worthy 
of  censure,  and  contrary  to  piety  :  but  present  circumstances 
imperiously  require  of  me  to  renounce  ungodliness  and  the 
allurements  of  sin,  and  to  commence  a  new  life.  And,  not 
to  dissemble  what  I  think,  perhaps  your  manner  of  living, 
my  lord  of  Salzburg,  is  not  much  more  religious,  or  more 
virtuous,  than  my  own  :  and  your  proceedings  are  worse 
than  mine,  in  proportion  as  you  more  obstinately  and  eagerly 
excuse  your  sins,  palliate  idolatrous  abuses,  and  attempt  to 
defend  and  uphold  unholy  doctrines  :  of  all  which  impiety 
God  forbid  that  I  should  make  myself  a  partaker !"  The 
Elector  of  Brandenburg  then  warmly  took  up  the  question 
against  Luther  ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Augsburg  as  warmly 
defended  what  he  had  advanced,  affirming  that  the  Luther- 
ans assailed,  "  not  the  Catholic  church,  but  only  the  abuses 
prevailing  in  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  that  no  one  could 
deny  that  many  gross  and  dangerous  errors  remained  in 
that  community."  The  Elector  of  Mentz  was  obhged  at 
length  to  interfere,  and  terminate  the  discussion.* 

A  few  remarks  may  here  be  made  on  the  Confession 
itself,  which  attracted  so  much  attention,  and  produced  such 
powerful  effects  at  the  time,  and  which  became  thencefor- 
ward the  doctrinal  standard  of  a  large  and  respectable  sec- 
tion of  the  Christian  world.  It  is  introduced  by  a  prefatory 
address  to  the  emperor,  and  is  subscribed  by  seven  princes 
and  the  representatives  of  two  cities.  It  consists  of  twenty 
one  "chief  articles  of  Faith,"  followed  by  seven  others 
concerning  the  changes  made  by  the  reformation  of  abuses 
in  the  practice  of  the  church  :  and  it  concludes  with 
an  "  Epilogue,"  in  which  it  is  observed,  that  numerous 
other  abuses  might  have  been  specified,  but  that,  to  avoid 
prolixity,  and  to  promote  conciliation,  the  writers  had  con- 
fined themselves  to  such  as  were  essential.  To  most  of  the 
articles  of  faith  are  subjoined  rejections  of  the  opposite 
errors  :  so  that  each  topic  may  be  said  to  be  explained  both 
positively  and  negatively. 

*  From  Celestine— a  Roman  Catholic  historian. 
B2 


18  CONFESSION 

"  The  general  resemblance  of  the  doctrine,  and  even  of  the 
language  of  the  Confession,  to  that  of  the  articles  of  our 
own  church,  must  strike  every  attentive  reader.  But  this  is 
little  more  than  what  is  common  to  all  the  confessions  of  faith 
composed  at  the  period  of  the  blessed  reformation.  Shades 
of  difference  might  and  would  exist ;  but  on  all  leading 
points  the  reformers  were  "  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul." 
"  One  Spirit  "  from  God  evidently  rested  in  a  large  measure 
upon  them,  and  "  opened  their  eyes  to  behold  the  wondrous 
things  of  his  Word."  The  same  blessed  truths  burst  almost 
simultaneously  upon  their  astonished  and  enraptured  view ; 
and  the  contrariety  of  the  whole,  to  the  system  of  darkness 
and  delusion  which  had  prevailed,  stood  discovered  in  such 
a  manner,  that  they  "  could  not  but  speak  forth"  to  all  the 
•world  the  things  which  they  had  learned.  Whatever  may 
be  said  to  the  contrary,  the  doctrine  of  the  reformation  is,  in 
the  main,  one  :  and  the  slight  differences  among  the  leading 
instruments  in  the  work,  and  especially  in  the  writings 
designed  to  exhibit  the  doctrines  of  the  several  churches,  are 
not  worthy  to  be  named  in  comparison  with  the  general  har- 
mony and  agreement.  And  this  is  as  true  of  the  Confessions 
which  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  influenced  by  the  tenets 
of  Calvin,  the  Helvetian  and  the  Galilean,  for  instance,  as 
with  respect  to  any  others.  It  is  delightful  to  trace  this, 
and  with  it  the  sound  and  salutary  doctrine,  delivered  in  so 
devout  and  edifying  a  spirit,  with  which  they  are  replete. 

The  grand  stress  of  all  is  laid  on  the  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, "  How  shall  man  be  just  with  God  ]"  and  the  doctrine 
taught  is,  that  we  are  freely  "justified  by  the  grace  of  God, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;"  and  that 
our  interest  in  this  unspeakable  blessing  is  received  simply 
through  faith  ;  and  "  depends  not  on  the  condition  of  our 
worthiness,  neither  is  bestowed  on  account  of  preceding 
works,  nor  for  the  worthiness  of  any  works  to  follow" — 
though  follow  they  assuredly  will  in  every  one  who  has  any 
part  or  lot  in  the  blessing.  This  is  the  great  doctrine  of  the 
reformation ;  and  not  of  the  reformation  only,  but  of  the 
"holy  Catholic  church;"  the  "  articulus  stantisvel  cadentis 
ecclesise" — the  mark  of  distinction  between  a  standing  and 
a  falling  church.  It  is  the  doctrine  which,  as  Luther  and 
his  friends  evermore  so  strikingly  set  forth,  at  once  brings 
peace  into  the  conscience,  and  holiness  into  the  heart  and 


OF    AUGSBURG,  19 

life  ;  gives  liberty  in  the  service  of  God,  not,  as  some  would 
insinuate,  from  that  service :  the  doctrine  which,  being 
blessed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  the  sixteenth  century  over- 
threw the  gainful,  but  corrupt  and  oppressive  system  of 
austerities,  indulgences,  purgatory,  and  priestly  domination, 
that  had  for  ages  been  growing  up,  and  supplanting  true 
religion  and  righteousness  in  the  world.  It  is  the  doctrine 
which  persons  unacquainted,  or  but  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  the  influence  of  the  gospel  on  the  hearts  of  men,  are 
ever  ready  to  think  big  with  a  thousand  dangers,  and  with 
which  therefore  they  are  ever  prone  to  tamper  ;  but  which  has 
always  been  restored  again,  to  the  estabhshment  of  peace  in 
men's  consciences,  and  righteousness  in  their  lives,  in  pro- 
portion as  God  has  "  poured  his  Spirit  from  on  high"  upon 
his  church. 

At  the  same  time  this  doctrine  is  in  the  Confession  guarded 
against  abuse,  and  made  altogether  practical  m  its  appli- 
cation. In  fact,  peace  given  to  the  conscience,  on  sure  and 
solid  grounds,  is  here  most  justly  considered  as  one  of  the 
first  requisites  for  bringing  men  to  the  true  and  spiritual 
service  of  God.  How  contrary  is  this  to  the  common  opin- 
ion, that  to  be  assured  of  pardon,  and  of  having  found  favour 
with  God,  must  make  us  careless  of  our  conduct.  The 
former,  in  contradistinction  to  the  latter,  is  the  doctrine  of 
Scripture,  of  fact,  and  of  sound  philosophy  also.* 

*The  Confession  says,  "Heretofore,  when  this  consolation,"  arising 
from  the  true  doctrine  of  justification,  "  was  not  proposed,  many  trem- 
bling consciences  endeavoured  to  pac-ify  themselves  by  works ;  some 
betook  themselves  to  a  monastic  l:!e,  some  to  one  species  of  works, 
some  to  another,  by  which  they  were  to  obtain  remission  of  sins  and 
justification.  But  there  is  no  firm  consolation,  except  this  doctrine  of 
the  gospel ;  and  this  whole  doctrine  is  provided  and  adapted  for  the  con- 
flicts of  a  conscience  alarmed"  by  the  sense  of  sin. 

Again,  it  quotes  the  testimony  of  Gerson,  chancellor  of  the  university 
of  Paris  (whom  Mosheim  calls  "  the  most  illustrious  ornament"  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  "  the  oracle"  of  the  council  of  Constance),  "  That 
many  fell  into  despair,  and  some  even  committed  suicide,  because  they 
found  it  impossible  satisfactorily  to  observe  the  traditions  of  the  church, 
and  had  heard  of  no  consolation  from  grace  and  the  righteousness  of 
faith."  To  this  add  the  following  striking  passage  from  Luther  on  the 
Galatians  :  "  What  I  here  say  from  St.  Paul's  words  I  have  learned  by 
experience,  my  own  and  that  of  others  in  the  monastery.  I  have  seen 
many,  who,  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  scrupulosity,  have  omitted 
nothing  which  might  pacify  conscience;  have  worn  hair-cloth,  fasted, 
prayed,  afflicted  and  exhausted  their  bodies  by  various  severities,  so  that 
even  if  they  had  been  made  of  iron,  they  must  at  length  have  been 


20  CONFESSION 

Yet,  further,  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  is  composed 
deserves  to  be  noted.  This  is  such  as  to  make  the  perusal 
of  it  deUghtfuI  to  the  pious  mind.  It  is  no  mere  cold,  dry, 
doctrinal  statement ;  a  sacred  unction  overspreads  it.  It 
bears  upon  its  very  face  to  be  the  production  of  men  with 
whom  religion  is  a  matter  of  deep  and  serious  feeling  :  it  all 
has  a  direct  reference  to  Christian  experience  and  to  prac- 
tice ;  to  give  relief  to  distressed  consciences,  and  to  produce 
spiritual  obedience.  All  its  doctrines  it  delivers  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  are  burdened  with  the  sense  of  sin  : 
and  it  takes  for  granted  that  we  have  all  need  to  be  so  bur- 
dened ;  and  that  true  religion  generally  begins  in  such  a 
sense  of  guilt  and  danger.  And  with  great  propriety  does 
it  address  itself  to  persons  thus  affected  ;  to  the  "  poor  in 
spirit,"  the  "  contrite  in  heart,"  the  "  weary  and  heavy 
laden  :"  for  Christianity  itself  is  designed  for  such  charac- 
ters.  No  others  will  understand  it,  value  it,  and  make  the 
right  use  of  it. 

The  point  on  which  the  Confession  appears  to  be  most 
defective  is,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  particularly  that 
part  of  it  which  relates  to  *'  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ 
preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,"  and  not  only 
"  working  with  us  when  we  have"  that  good  will.*  I 
notice  this  especially  for  the  purpose  of  remarking,  that  the 
fashionable  way  of  speaking  of  the  grace  of  God  "  assisting 
our  endeavours,"  and  of  branding  every  thing  beyond  this  as 
fanatical,  is  a  mere  cover  for  practically  excluding  the  grace 
of  God  altogether.  When  we  speak  of  "  assisting  a  man's 
endeavours,"  it  implies  that  he  is  already  willing  and  active 
himself;  but  is  this  the  state  of  fallen  man  with  respect  to 
the  service  of  God,  previously  to  the  influence  of  divine 
grace  upon  his  mind  ?  Prevenient  grace  must  go  before, 
and  "  work  in  us  to  will,"  or  assisting  grace  will  find  no- 
thing with  which  to  co-operate.  The  language  now  fre- 
quently in  use  also  implies,  that  any  thing  beyond  assisting 
grace  must  be  a  compulsory  influence.  But  it  has  been 
justly  observed,  that  there  is  much  said  in  Scripture,  and  in 

destroyed ;  yet  the  more  they  laboured,  the  more  fearful  they  became.  And, 
especially  as  the  hour  of  death  drew  luiiU.  they  were  so  full  of  trepida- 
tion, that  t  have  seen  many  mujderers,  condemned  to  die  for  their  crimes, 
meet  death  with  more  confidence  than  these  persons  who  had  lived  so 
strictly." 
•  Church  Arl.  x. 


OF    AUGSBURG.  21 

all  our  best  divines,  of  an  influence  inclinins  the  heart, 
though  not  forcing  it  \*  all  which  is  thus  overlooked.  No- 
thing can  be  further  from  my  intention  than  to  admit,  that 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg  countenances  any  such  system 
as  this  :  it  has  merely  omitted  to  guard  against  it  so  clearly 
and  distinctly  as  our  own  articles  have  done. 

We  now  turn  to  the  proceedings  adopted  after  the  read- 
ing of  the  Confession.  The  legate,  with  the  other  papal 
emissaries,  had  been  anxious  that  the  Protestants  should 
not  at  all  be  heard,  but  that  a  decision  should  at  once  be 
pronounced  against  their  tenets,  as  already  condemned  by 
Leo  X. ;  and  that  force  should  be  resorted  to,  to  put  them 
down :  in  short,  that  the  edict  of  Worms  should  be  strictly 
executed.  As  this  could  not  be  carried,  the  legate  absented 
himself  from  the  reading  of  the  Confession,  that  he  might 
not  even  seem  to  compromise  the  rights  of  the  church,  by 
admitting  to  a  hearing  that  which  she  had  condemned.  The 
emperor,  however,  desired  his  advice  respecting  it,  and  he 
accordingly  read  it  in  private,  with  the  divines  who  accom- 
panied him  ;  and  thought,  says  Father  Paul,  "  that  a  cen- 
sure of  it  ought  to  be  published  in  his  name  :"  yet,  "  fore- 
seeing that  this  would  give  occasion  to  greater  tumults,  and 
saying  plainly  that '  the  difference  for  the  most  part  seemed 
verbal,  and  it  imported  not  much  whether  men  spake  after 
one  manner  or  another  ;'  and  that  it  was  not  reasonable  that 
the  apostolic  see  should  take  part  in  the  disputations  of  the 
schools  ;  he  refased  to  have  his  name  used  in  these  conten- 
tions." On  the  w^hole,  however,  he  concluded,  "  that,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Lutherans  having  been  read,  in  order  to 
remove  prejudice,"  that  is,  to  efface  the  impression  which 
had  been  made  in  its  favour,  "  a  confutation  of  it  should  be 
read  likewise — but  not  published,  for  fear  of  opening  a  way 
to  disputations  ;  and  that  means  should  be  used,  by  pro- 
posing favours  and  threats,  to  prevent  the  Protestants  from 
going  further."  The  emperor's  counsellors  concurring  in 
this  opinion  of  the  legate,  the  Confession  was  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  the  popish  divines,  particularly  Faber  and 
Eckius,  that  they  might  prepare  a  refutation  of  it.  And  on 
this  w^ork  they  employed  between  five  and  six  weeks. 

During  this  period  Campeggio's  plan  of  "  favours  and 
threats,"  particularly  the  latter,  began  to  be  put  in  practice. 

*  "  Incline  our  hearts  to  keep  this  law,"  &c. 


22  PIET    AND   CONFESSION 

The  Elector  of  Saxony  had  never  y^t  received  formal  investi- 
ture of  his  dignities  and  dominions  from  the  emperor.  He 
now  appUed  for  this  confirmation  of  his  rights,  but  was  sur- 
prised by  a  refusal.  "  The  emperor  would  not  grant  it, 
unless  the  elector  would  return  to  the  Catholic  church." 
In  the  same  terms  he  refused  to  ratify  the  marriage  of  the 
elector's  pious  and  excellent  son,  John  Frederic,  with 
Sibylla  of  Cleves.  This  was  the  more  mean  and  cruel,  as, 
in  order  to  break  off  a  match  between  his  own  sister  (sub- 
sequently Queen  of  Portugal)  and  this  young  prince,  Charles 
had  promised  to  afford  every  countenance  in  his  power 
to  any  other  suitable  alliance.  In  like  manner,  he  threatened 
to  deprive  the  Marquis  of  Brandenburg  of  the  guardianship 
of  his  nephew.  To  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  held  out  the  hope  of  the  restoration  of  Ulric  of 
Wirtemberg,  who  had  been  expelled  from  his  dukedom — an 
object  which  the  landgrave  had  much  at  heart.  But  such 
"  threats  and  favours"  were  as  unavailing  as  they  deserved 
to  be  ;  and  no  one  of  the  Protestant  princes  was  induced 
by  them  to  swerve  in  the  least  from  the  principles  which 
they  had  in  common  avowed. 

At  length  the  popish  divines  presented  their  refutation 
of  the  Confession.  "  The  conclusion  of  it,"  says  Sleidan, 
"  was  severe  and  hard  ;  no  less  than  the  ban  of  the  empire 
being  threatened  to  those  that  obeyed  not."  Such  was  prob- 
ably the  proposal  of  the  divines :  but  "  the  princes,"  Du 
Pin  observes,  "  were  of  opinion,  that  all  the  biting  expres- 
sions, which  the  divines  could  not  help  bringing  in,  should  be 
taken  out  :"  and  thus  qualified,  it  was  read,  on  the  3d  of 
August,  in  a  full  assembly  of  the  states,  the  emperor  pre- 
mising that  it  had  his  approbation,  and  should  receive 
his  support. 

Melancthon  speaks  of  the  refutation  as  "  so  puerile  that 
it  produced  much  mutual  congratulation"  among  the  Prot- 
estants. "  All  good  and  wise  men,"  he  says,  "  seem  to  be 
in  better  spirits  since  they  heard  it."  After  it  had  been 
read,  it  was  acknowledged  that  some  abuses  existed,  of  which 
the  emperor  would  endeavour  to  procure  reformation.  He 
trusted  therefore  that  the  Protestants  would  return  into  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  and  submit  themselves.  The  Elector 
of  Saxony  answered  for  himself  and  his  friends,  That  they 
would  do  any  thing  for  peace  which  they  could  do  with  a 


OF    AUGSBITRG.  23 

safe  conscience  ;  and,  if  convicted  of  any  error  by  scriptural 
authority,  they  would  readily  renounce  it.  But  he  desired 
a  copy  of  the  Refutation,  that  they  might  consider  it  at 
leisure,  and  show  on  what  points  it  was  not  satisfactory  to 
them  ;  which  would  be  in  conformity  with  the  fair  and  candid 
discussion  to  which  they  had  been  invited.  This  however 
was  refused.  Two  days  after,  a  copy  was  offered,  merely 
for  their  private  perusal,  and  on  condition  that  no  transcript 
should  be  made,  and  that  it  should  not  be  communicated  to 
any  other  persons,  as  the  emperor  would  have  no  further 
debate,  but  required  them  to  submit  to  his  decision.  On 
such  conditions  they  declined  to  receive  it :  and  the  night 
following,  the  landgrave  suddenly  quitted  Augsburg,  with- 
out taking  leave  ;  which  much  displeased  the  emperor.  Be- 
ing a  discerning,  and  at  the  same  time  a  somewhat  hasty 
man,  he  had  seen  enough  to  convince  him  that  no  good  was 
to  be  expected  at  Augsburg,  and  therefore  he  did  not  wish 
to  be  longer  detained  there. 

Thus  all  prospect  of  the  friendly  discussion  of  differ- 
ences, and  much  more  of  pacification,  seemed  to  have  van- 
ished. None  but  the  Protestants  had  submitted  their  tenets 
to  examination,  and  they  had  been  met  only  by  an  angry 
"  refutation"  (as  it  was  called),  and  by  demands  of  implicit 
submission,  backed  by  threats  in  case  of  their  refusal  to 
comply.  The  Elector  of  Mentz,  however,  and  other  princes, 
desirous  of  trying  what  further  could  be  accomplished, 
undertook  to  act  as  mediators  between  the  parlies.  Their 
mediation  however  did  not  wear  a  very  conciliatory  aspect, 
when,  in  the  very  first  conference  which  was  held,  one  of 
their  number  permitted  the  declaration  to  escape  him,  That 
if  the  Elector  of  Saxony  did  not  renounce  and  anathematise 
the  new-fangled  doctrine  which  he  had  embraced,  the  em- 
peror would  by  force  of  arms  deprive  him  of  his  dignities, 
his  possessions,  and  his  life.  This  outrageous  sentence, 
which,  it  would  naturally  be  suspected,  did  but  betray  coun- 
sels secretly  cherished  on  that  side,  much  disturbed  the  good 
elector ;  but  he  did  not  suffer  himself  to  be  in  the  least 
moved  by  it  from  his  purpose.  To  the  honour  of  those  con- 
cerned, it  deserves  also  to  be  recorded,  that,  at  this  very 
period  of  danger  and  difficulty,  four  fresh  cities,  Kempton, 
Winsheim,  Hailbrun,  and  Weissenberg,  all  of  them  of  but 
moderate   strength   and  resources,  joined   the   Protestant 


24  PROCEEDINGS 

cause.  All  the  attempts  of  the  mediators  proved,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  ineffectual.  The  differences  did  not 
admit  of  compromise.  Toleration  could  not  be  thought  of 
by  the  Church  of  Rome,  or  the  unreserved  submission  de- 
manded of  them  by  the  Protestants.  The  whole  business 
was  therefore  referred  back  to  the  emperor  at  the  end  of 
the  month,  in  the  same  state  in  which  it  had  been  found. 
"  What  will  be  the  event,"  Melancthon  here  writes,  "  I 
cannot  divine.  Let  us  pray  that  God  would  incline  the 
mind  of  the  emperor  to  the  preservation  of  peace,  of  which 
not  only  we,  but  all  Germany  now  stands  in  the  greatest 
need." 

It  will  be  gratifying  to  turn  from  this  scene  of  hopeless 
controversy,  to  the  employments  of  Luther  during  the  same 
period.  It  has  been  observed,  that  he  accompanied  the 
elector  on  his  journey  to  the  diet  as  far  as  Coburg.  He 
took  up  his  abode  at  this  place  in  April,  and  he  continued 
there  till  the  elector's  return  in  October.  He  was  to  be 
here  in  a  degree  of  concealment,  and  we  might  be  sure  that 
to  his  active  and  ardent  spirit  this  long-continued  seclusion 
would  often  be  irksome.  He  complains  of  the  rare  and  tardy 
communications  which  he  received  from  Augsburg  ;  nor  was 
he  always  well  pleased  with  them  when  they  arrived.  We 
read  also  of  bodily  indisposition  which  he  suffered,  and  of 
the  temptations  of  Satan  with  which  he  was  harassed. 
But  his  magnanimity,  supported  by  an  extraordinary  spirit 
of  faith  and  prayer,  enabled  him  to  triumph  over  all  dis- 
couraging and  anxious  circumstances  ;  to  be  the  comforter 
of  his  conflicting  and  often  desponding  friends ;  to  carry 
on  his  assaults  in  a  very  efficient  manner  against  the  up- 
holders of  the  reigning  delusions,  and  to  promote  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  church  by  pious  and  instructive  writings.  Even 
the  gayety  of  his  spirit  did  not  forsake  him,  and  he  could 
mingle  amusement  both  for  himself  and  his  friends  with  his 
more  serious  occupations.  He  employed  his  leisure  at 
Coburg,  we  are  told,  in  "  translating  the  Prophets,  and 
composing  a  commentary  on  the  Psalms ;  and,  by  way  of 
relaxation,  in  rendering  the  fables  of  ^sop  into  German, 
or  in  writing  humorous  letters  to  his  friends." 

But  particularly,  a  little  before  the  emperor  left  Inspruck, 
on  his  way  to  Augsburg,  Luther  composed  and  published 


OF    LUTHER.  25 

an  address  to  the  ecclesiastical  members  of  the  diet,  well 
calculated  to  make  the  strong  impression  winch  it  appears 
to  have  produced.  He  sent  copies  to  the  Prince  John  Fred- 
eric at  Augsburg,  by  whom  they  were  forwarded  to  Dolzig, 
his  father's  ambassador  to  the  emperor,  with  directions  to 
him  to  put  them  into  the  hands  of  persons  well  afiected  to 
their  cause  in  the  imperial  court.  In  this  address,  or 
"  Admonition,"  after  apologizing  for  the  liberty  he  took  in 
offering  advice,  he  first  pointed  out  how  fruitless  all  harsh 
measures  had  hitherto  proved.  Even  the  opposite  party, 
he  observes,  bore  testimony  to  his  doctrine,  having  hor- 
roioed  fro7n  him,  and  learned  to  preach  in  quite  a  different 
manner  from  what  Jhey  had  heretofore  done.  He  urges  the 
services  which  he  must  be  confessed  to  have  rendered,  in 
checking  the  disorders  of  the  fanatics,  preventing  sedi- 
tion at  Worms,  and  supporting  the  authority  of  the  magis- 
trates ;  in  putting  to  rout  the  venders  of  indulgences,  up- 
holding the  rights  of  the  bishops  against  the  insolence  of 
the  monks,  and  removing  many  acknowledged  abuses. 
The  most  specious  charge  against  him  was  that  of  innova- 
tion. He  repels  it  therefore,  and  indeed  retorts  it,  with 
great  spirit.  Having  enumerated  various  particulars,  he 
exclaims,  "  The  remainder  of  really  ancient  usages  among 
you,  usages  sanctioned  by  the  canons  and  the  fatliers  of  the 
church,  may  be  comprised  in  a  nutshell  ;  while  the  world 
itself  is  filled  with  your  novelties.  One  worships  and  in- 
vokes S.  Ann,  another  S.  Christopher,  another  S.  George,  S. 
Barbara,  S.  Sebastian,  S.  Catharine  ;  in  short,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  recount  the  new  objects  and  new  rites  of  worship  that 
have  been  introduced,  and  the  date  and  origin  of  most 
of  which  might  be  distinctly  traced."  He  animadverts  with 
severity  on  the  sort  of  sermons  which  had  not  only  been 
heard  in  the  churches,  but,  without  number,  published  to 
the  world,  and  which  were  of  the  very  silliest  character. 
Nothing  was  heard  in  them  of  Christ,  nothing  of  faith  :  the 
very  best  resounded  only  with  the  invocation  of  saints  and 
the  worship  of  the  Virgin.  His  testimony  upon  the  last  of 
these  topics  is  very  striking.  "  I  myself,  as  much  as  any 
others,  paid  to  Mary  what  was  due  only  to  Christ.  Him  I 
regarded  as  an  angry  Judge  ;  Mary,  as  the  fountain  of 
grace,  to  whom  all  our  hopes  were  to  be  directed,  if  we 
would  not  be  left  utterly  to  sink  in  despair !"  The  school- 
VoL.  n.— C 


26  PROCEEDINGS 

men,  he  affirms,  "did  nothing  but  propose  paradoxes  5 
their  whole  art  was  founded  in  a  contempt  of  Scripture." 
He  declares  before  God,  that  he  did  not  animadvert  on  these 
things  for  the  sake  of  reproaching  any  persons,  but  with  the 
sincere  desire  of  their  reformation.  He  then  notices  the 
abuse  of  church  censures,  as  the  means  of  tyranny  and 
extortion.  He  reprehends  also  the  misapplication  of  the 
ecclesiastical  funds,  the  scandals  arising  from  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy,  and  the  utter  neglect  of  the  duties  of  their 
office  shown  by  the  bishops.  He  then  earnestly  exhorts  the 
persons  addressed  to  repentance  and  amendment.  If  no 
hope  was  to  be  entertained  from  them,  he  begs  that  they 
would  not  delay  to  take  him  off.  "  While  living,"  he  says, 
"  I  have  been  your  plague,  and  dying  I  will  be  the  death 
of  you.  God  has  stirred  me  up  against  you,  as  he  did  the 
prophet  Hosea  against  his  people,  that  I  should  be  to  you 
as  a  lion  and  a  bear."  He  and  his  friends,  however,  sought 
no  diminution  of  the  rank  and  revenues  of  the  prelates  ;  it 
hurt  them  not  at  all  that  they  were  lords  and  princes  ;  they 
were  ready  to  obey  their  authority  as  far  as  conscience 
would  permit,  and  they  desired  no  provision  to  be  made  for 
themselves  :  God  would  take  care  of  them  in  that  respect. 
They  only  asked  peace,  and  exemption  from  persecution  : 
they  had  sought,  and  would  seek  nothing,  but  that  the 
gospel  might  have  free  course. 

This  bold  address  of  Luther's  was  publicly  sold  near  the 
hotel  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony  at  Augsburg,  and  was  read 
to  the  assembled  Roman  Catholic  princes  by  the  bishop 
of  that  city.  Yet  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  it  so  moved  the  wrath  of  Maimbourg,  as  to  make  him 
exclaim  against  the  lukewarmness  of  the  emperor,  who 
though  he  might  be  excused,  in  consideration  of  the 
safe-conduct  he  had  granted,  in  dismissing  Luther  from 
Worms,  ought  certainly  now  "  to  have  compelled  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  to  deliver  him  up  at  Augsburg." 

Seckendorf  will  not  venture  to  pronounce  whether  this 
composition  of  Luther's,  and  another  to  be  noticed  imme- 
diately, tended  to  promote  or  obstruct  the  desired  result ; 
though  he  inclines  to  the  former  conclusion  ;  and  he  enu- 
merates various  distinguished  persons  who  heard  this 
address  of  Luther's,  and  who  became  within  a  few  years 
friends  and  patrons  of  the  reformation :  particularly  Her- 


OF    LUTHER.  27 

man,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  Frederic,  Count,  and  soon 
after  Elector  Palatine,  Joachim,  son  and  successor  of  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  Eric  Duke  of  Brunswick,  the 
Dukes  of  Mecklenburg  and  Pomerania,  and  others,  whose 
representatives  only  were  present ;  not  to  mention  counts, 
barons,  knights,  and  free  cities. 

The  other  publication  of  Luther's  to  which  we  have 
alluded  was  a  printed  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  in 
which  he  admonishes  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the 
Italians ;  warns  him  from  the  second  Psalm,  and  from  the 
fatal  issue  which  the  persecution  of  the  apostles  entailed  on 
its  authors  ;  conjures  him  to  stand,  like  Gamaliel,  between 
the  Protestants  and  their  persecutors  ;  and  scruples  not  to 
tell  him,  that  while  associated  with  the  pope  and  his  abet- 
ters, he  stood  involved  with  Satan  himself. 

But  the  private  correspondence  of  the  reformer  will  be 
still  more  interesting  to  us. 

Writing  to  the  elector,  then  waiting  at  Augsburg  for  the 
emperor's  arrival,  he  consoles  him,  under  all  the  trials  he 
endured  for  the  gospel's  sake,  among  other  considerations, 
by  the  following  eulogy  of  the  religious  state  of  the  elect- 
orate of  Saxony.  "  Truly  there  are  more  numerous  and 
more  excellent  pastors  and  teachers  in  your  highness's  do- 
minions than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  Our  youth 
of  both  sexes  grow  up  so  well  instructed  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures and  the  Catechism,  that  it  affords  me  the  most  sensible 
pleasure  to  see  children  learn  more,  and  enabled  to  believe 
and  avow  more,  concerning  God  and  Christ,  than  all  the 
papal  colleges,  monasteries,  and  schools  heretofore  knew,  or 
even  yet  know.  These  tender  plants  form  a  lovely  paradise, 
planted  by  God  himself  in  your  highness's  territories, 
which  has  not  its  equal  in  all  the  world  besides,  The  chil- 
dren of  God  are  protected  and  daily  fed  with  the  bread  of 
life  in  your  dominions  :  the  very  reverse  of  Vvfliich  is  the  case 
in  those  of  the  popish  princes.  In  those  countries,  however, 
there  are  many  who  look  to  the  sacred  land,  under  your 
highness's  sway,  with  ardent  affection  and  fervent  prayers." 
He  calls  God  to  witness,  that  he  wrote  not  thus  to  flatter  his 
prince,  but  in  sincerity  and  truth,  lest  Satan  should  deject 
and  sadden  his  mind.  "  I  know  that  subtle  agent  in  part," 
he  says,  "  and  the  artifices  with  which  he  often  disturbs  me. 


28  PROCEEDINGS 

He  is  a  gloomy  and  morose  spirit,  who  reluctantly  suffers 
any  heart  to  enjoy  peace." 

Luther  anticipated  no  favourable  result  from  the  discus- 
sions at  Augsburg.  "  Certainly,"  he  writes  to  Agricola, 
about  the  20th  of  June  (before  the  Confession  had  been 
read),  "  certainly  you  have  to  do,  not  with  men,  but  with 
the  very  powers  of  darkness,  well  practised  and  fully 
equipped  ;  but  what  comforts  me,  full  also  of  rage — blinded 
by  which,  they  must  needs  at  length  run  foul  of  the  counsels 
of  Divine  Wisdom,  like  a  ship  upon  a  rock." 

In  a  letter  to  Justus  Jonas,  of  the  same  date,  he  says,  "  I 
exult  in  the  gift  of  God,  that  our  prince  possesses  so  deter- 
mined and  yet  so  calm  a  spirit.  This  makes  me  trust  that 
my  prayers  for  him  are  accepted  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
"  Philip,"  he  adds,  that  is  Melancthon,  "  is  harassed  by 
his  philosophy,  and  nothing  else  ;  for  the  cause  rests  with 
Him  who  sublimely  pronounces,  '  None  shall  pluck  it  out 
of  my  hand.'  I  would  not  wish  it  to  be  in  our  hands. 
Whatever  hitherto  I  have  been  enabled  to  cast  from  myself 
upon  him  has  prospered  :  so  true  is  it  that  '  God  is  our 
refuge  and  strength.'  Who  ever  'trusted  in  Him,  and  was 
forsaken!'" 

Hearing  of  Melancthon's  great  anxiety  and  distress,  he 
w^rote  to  him,  June  30,  as  follows  : — "  Grace  and  peace  to 
you  in  Christ !  My  dear  Philip,  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  what 
to  write  to  you,  so  much  do  the  thoughts  of  your  vain  and 
sinful  anxieties  repel  my  attempts,  and  convince  me  that  I 
speak  to  the  deaf.  This  is  owing  to  your  trusting  to  your- 
self alone,  and  having  no  confidence  in  me  or  in  others.  I 
will  declare  the  truth.  I  have  been  in  greater  straits  than 
ever  you  will  come  into.  I  hope  and  pray  that  no  man,  not 
even  our  enemies,  who  now  so  rage  against  us,  may  be  like 
me,  or  exposed  to  what  I  have  been  :  and  yet  in  those  dis- 
tresses my  heart  has  often  been  relieved  by  the  words  of  a 
brother  :  those  of  Pomeranus,  of  Jonas,  or  of  yourself,  and 
others.  Why  then  do  you  not,  in  your  turn,  listen  to  us  ? 
We  speak  not  according  to  the  flesh  and  the  world,  but 
according  to  God,  and  doubtless  under  the  guidance  of  his 
Holy  Spirit.  Though  we  be  worthless,  I  pray  you,  let  not 
Him  who  speaks  by  us  be  esteemed  unworthy  of  regard. 
If  it  be  false  that  God  gave  his  own  Son  for  us,  then  let  the 
devil,  or  let  any  one,  take  my  place  :  but  if  he  really  did  so, 


OF    LUTHER.  29 

then  what  means  our  care,  our  anxiety,  our  sadness,  our 
trepidation  ]  As  if  he  who  gave  his  Son  for  us  would  not 
be  with  us  in  afi'airs  of  comparatively  light  moment  !  or  as 
if  Satan  were  stronger  than  he  ! — In  private  conflicts  (if  my 
conflicts  with  Satan  are  to  be  called  private),  I  am  weak, 
and  you  are  strong.  In  public  ones  it  is  the  very  reverse. 
You  despise  your  life,  but  tremble  for  our  cause  !  On  the 
contrary,  with  respect  to  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged, 
I  am  confident,  and  at  my  ease,  being  sure  that  it  is  right- 
eous, and  the  cause  of  truth,  and,  in  fact,  of  God  and  his 
Christ,  which  has  no  need  to  tremble  at  the  guilt  of  sin,  as 
I  a  poor  imperfect  Christian  have.  I  feel  myself  therefore 
almost  a  secure  spectator ;  and  value  not  those  fierce  and 
threatening  papists  a  rush.  If  we  fall,  Christ  the  Ruler 
of  the  world  will  fall  with  us  ;  and  if  he  falls,  I  choose 
rather  to  fall  with  Christ  than  stand  with  Caesar. — Nor  are 
you  at  Augsburg  the  only  persons  who  uphold  this  cause. 
Believe  me,  I  am  faithfully  with  you  in  groans  and  prayers. 
I  wish  I  might  be  personally  present ;  for  certainly  the  cause 
belongs  as  much,  and  more,  to  me  than  to  any  of  you.  Nor 
did  I  take  it  up  through  any  rashness,  or  from  the  desire 
either  of  glory  or  of  gain  ;  as  the  Spirit  himself  is  witness, 
and  as  facts  have  declared,  and  will  yet  more  widely  declare. 
For  Christ's  sake,  therefore,  I  beseech  you,  do  not  so 
neglect  those  divine  promises  and  consolations,  '  Cast  thy 
burden  upon  the  Lord  ;  wait  for  the  Lord  ;  be  strong,  and 
he  shall  comfort  thy  heart.'  The  Psalms  and  Gospels  are 
full  of  such  passages.  *  Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome 
the  world.'  Christ  is  the  conqueror  of  the  world.  Vvliat, 
then,  do  we  fear  a  vanquished  enemy  as  if  he  were  the  vic- 
tor 1  Such  a  sentence  would  be  worth  fetching  from  Rome 
or  Jerusalem,  though  we  had  to  creep  all  the  way  upon  our 
hands  and  knees  for  it.  But  plenty  and  famiharity  make  us 
hold  things  cheap.  Faith  is  weak,  but  let  us  pray  with  the 
apostles,  '  Lord,  increase  our  faith  !' — But  I  write  in  vain, 
since  you,  instructed  by  your  philosophy,  attempt  to  manage 
all  these  things  by  reason  alone  :  you  let  reason  lead  you 
into  folly,  and  vex  yourself  to  death  ;  never  considering  that 
the  business  is  placed  quite  beyond  your  hand  and  your 
counsel,  and  will  be  conducted  independently  of  your  care. 
And  Christ  forbid  that  it  should  ever  come  into  your  hands  ! 
We  should  then  come  presently  to  a  sudden,  but  forsooth  a 
C3 


30  PROCEEDINGS 

glorious  end  ! — But  do  not  you  meddle  with  things  too  high 

for  you The  Lord  Jesus  preserve  you,  that  your  faith 

may  not  fail,  but  grow  and  conquer !  Amen.  I  have 
prayed,  do  pray,  and  will  pray  for  you  ;  and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  I  am  heard,  for  I  feel  that  Amen  in  my  heart.  If  what 
we  desire  does  not  come  to  pass,  what  is  better  will :  for  we 
look  for  a  kingdom,  when  all  things  in  this  world  have 
passed  away." 

About  the  same  time  Melancthon  had  informed  him  that 
a  great  part  of  their  time  at  Augsburg  was  spent  in  tears, 
and  that  he  could  not  fully  open  his  mind  to  Pontanus,  for 
fear  of  further  distressing  him.  On  this  Luther  writes,  "  I 
hate  these  cares  with  which  you  are  consumed.  It  is  not 
the  greatness  of  our  cause,  but  the  greatness  of  our  unbe- 
lief that  occasions  them.  The  cause  was  more  arduous  in 
the  times  of  Huss,  and  many  others.  And,  however  great  it 
may  be,  its  Author  and  Conductor  is  great ;  for  it  is  not 
ours.  If  we  are  wrong,  let  life  recant  ;  but  if  right,  why  do 
we  make  him  a  liar  in  his  promises,  who  has  bid  us  be  of  a 
composed  and  cheerful  mind.  It  is  your  philosophy,  not 
your  theology,  that  disquiets  you  and  your  friend  Joachim 
(Camerarius),  who  seems  to  sutler  with  you  under  the  same 
disease.  What  worse  can  the  devil  do  to  us  than  kill  us] 
As  to  the  cause  itself  (whether  it  be  insensibility  or  courage 
I  leave  it  to  Christ  to  judge),  I  feel  little  disquiet  about  it  ; 
nay,  I  have  better  hopes  of  it  than  I  expected  to  entertain. 
If  ice  are  not  worthy  to  support  it,  others  will  be.  If  the 
danger  increases,  I  shall  scarcely  be  restrained  from  flying 
to  you,  that  I  may  behold  the  formidable  display  of  Satan's 
teeth." 

Shortly  after  he  says,  enough,  and  more  than  enough, 
had  already  been  conceded  in  the  Confession  ;  and  adds, 
"  Day  and  night  my  mind  is  exercised  upon  this  subject, 
considering,  reconsidering,  arguing,  and  examining  every 
part  of  Scripture,  and  my  assured  confidence  in  our  doctrine 
continually  grows  stronger.  By  the  help  of  God  I  will 
suf!er  no  more  to  be  extorted  from  me,  be  the  consequence 
what  it  may."  He  objects  to  their  speaking  of  "  following 
his  authority."  "  I  would  not  be,  or  allow  myself  to  be 
called  your  guide.  If  it  is  not  equally  your  cause,  let  it 
not  be  called  mine,  or  be  thought  to  be  imposed  on  you 
by  me." 


OF    LUTHER.  31 

In  the  middle  of  July  he  writes  to  Justus  Jonas,  that  he 
had  "  less  apprehension  from  the  threats  than  from  the 
artifices  and  frauds  practised  against  them  at  Aucrsbur'^r." 
And  indeed  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the  variety  of 
ways  in  which  the  supporters  of  the  Protestant  cause  were 
there  assailed.  They  were  indeed  in  general,  ^houo-h  not 
always,  treated  with  a  degree  of  civility,  particularly  "by  the 
emperor,  who  seems  in  this  way  to  have  led  both  Luther  and 
Melancthon  into  the  opinion,  which  they  willingly  admitted, 
that  he  was  more  favourably  disposed  to  them  than  others 
were.  But  as  to  the  avowed  zealots  of  the  papal  party,  and 
some  also  who  more  sincerely  wished  for  peace,  we  must 
conceive  of  Melancthon,  Pontanus,  and  their  coadjutors,  as 
baited  by  them  from  day  to  day,  and  every  approach  to  their 
minds  incessantly  attempted,  for  the  purpose  of  awing, 
alluring,  or  betraying  them  into  concessions  injurious  to 
their  cause  or  their  honour.  And  it  is  under  the  influence 
of  a  daily  conflict  of  this  kind  that  we  must  suppose  the 
gentle  spirit  of  Melancthon,  anxious  to  refuse  nothing  that 
he  might  lawfully  yield,  yet  most  religiously  fearful  of  be- 
traying the  truth,  to  have  been  harassed  to  the  degree  we 
have  seen.  The  very  idea  also  of  involving  his  country  in 
a  civil  war,  the  too  probable  and  eventually  the  actual  con- 
sequence, must  have  been  distressing  in  the  extreme  to  a 
patriot  and  a  Christian — especially  one  of  Melancthon's 
temper.  Of  the  direct  artifices  practised,  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing notice  in  a  manuscript  relation  of  the  transactions 
at  Augsburg,  from  a  high  authority,  quoted  by  Seckendorf, 
*'  The  hypocrisy  of  some  was  shown  in  conversing  kindly 
with  the  evangelical  ministers,  that  they  might  corrupt 
them,  and  fi^sh  out  of  them  the  secrets  of  their  princes  ;  so 
that  it  became  necessary  to  forbid  them  to  enter  into  these 
conversations.  In  short,  such  were  the  arts,  such  the 
machinations  employed,  that  their  adversaries  themselves 
could  not  sufficiently  wonder  that  the  Protestants  were  not 
entrapped  by  them." 

When  Luther  heard  of  the  demand  that  the  abrogated 
rites  should  be  restored,  the  monasteries  rebuilt,  and  all 
things  replaced  on  their  old  footing,  he  says,  "  Let  us,  on 
our  part,  demand  that  they  restore  to  life  Leonard  Cssar,* 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  313. 


32  PROCEEDINGS    OF    LUTHER. 

and  many  others  whom  they  have  iniquitously  put  to  death. 
Let  them  restore  the  many  souls  ruined  by  their  impious 
doctrine.  Let  them  restore  also  the  wealth  extorted  by 
indulgfences  and  other  cheats.  Let  them  restore  the  glory 
of  God,  insulted  by  so  many  blasphemies  ;  the  purity  of  the 
church,  so  foully  corrupted ;  and  other  things,  more  than 
can  be  enumerated." 

Such  were  the  prudence,  the  undaunted  courage,  the 
faith,  the  piety,  the  zeal  with  which  Luther  sustained  the 
spirits  of  his  harassed  and  afHicted  friends  at  this  arduous 
period.  All  his  letters  of  this  date  are  in  the  same  strain. 
In  one  of  them,  addressed  to  Pontanus,  I  find  the  follow- 
ing fine  burst  of  sentiment  and  description.  "  I  looked  out 
at  my  window" — probably  alluding  to  his  custom  of  offering 
up  his  devotions  standing  at  a  window — "  I  looked  out  at 
my  window,  and  saw  two  prodigies.  I  beheld  the  glittering 
stars,  and  all  the  glorious  vault  of  heaven  :  I  looked  around 
for  the  pillars  by  which  it  was  upheld,  but  I  could  discover 
none.  Yet  it  remained  firm  and  secure.  The  same  unseen 
Hand  which  had  formed  sustained  it  still.  Yet  numbers 
anxiously  search  on  all  sides  for  its  supports  ;  could  they 
feel  them  with  their  hands  they  might  then  be  at  ease  ;  but 
as  this  is  impossible,  they  live  in  constant  disquiet,  lest  the 
heavens  should  fall  dawn  upon  their  heads  ! — I  beheld  again, 
and  lo,  thick  clouds  of  water,  like  a  mighly  ocean,  which  I 
saw  nothing  to  contain,  nothing  to  hold  up,  rolled  above  our 
beads.  Yet  they  descended  not  upon  us ;  but  after  pre- 
senting a  threatening  aspect  for  a  little  time,  they  passed 
away,  and  a  brilliant  rainbow  succeeded  them.  This  was 
our  protection.*  Yet  it  appeared  frail  and  evanescent ; 
and  though  it  has  ever  hitherto  proved  availing,  still  num- 
bers think  more  of  the  thick  and  dark  mass  of  waters,  than 
of  the  slender  fleeting  arch  of  light.  They  want  to  have 
sensible  proof  of  its  sufficiency,  and  because  they  cannot 
obtain  that,  they  live  in  dread  of  a  second  deluge."  The 
application  of  all  this  to  the  case  of  his  friends  at  Augsburg 
is  obvious. 

From  this  passage  we  obtain  some  intimation  of  the  means 
by  which  our  heroic  reformer  was  enabled  to  soar  so  high, 
and  to  maintain  such  an  elevation  of  confidence  in   God. 

*  Gen.  ix. 


CONCLUDING  TRANSACTIONS.         33 

The  secret,  however,  is  best  discovered  to  us  by  the  follow- 
ing account,  given  by  Vitus  Theodorus,  one  of  his  compan- 
ions in  the  castle  of  Coburg.  "  I  cannot,"  he  says,  "  enough 
admire  the  extraordinary  cheerfulness,  constancy,  faith,  and 
hope  of  this  man,  in  these  trying  times.  He  constantly 
feeds  these  good  affections  by  a  very  diligent  study  of  the 
Word  of  God.  Then,  not  a  day  passes  in  which  he  does 
not  employ  in  prayer  at  least  three  of  his  ver}^  best  hours. 
Once  I  happened  to  hear  him  at  prayer.  Gracious  God  ! 
what  spirit,  what  faith  is  there  in  his  expressions  !  He 
petitions  God  with  as  much  reverence  as  if  he  were  actually 
in  the  Divine  presence,  and  yet  with  as  firm  a  hope  and 
confidence  as  he  would  address  a  father  or  a  friend.  '  I 
know,'  said  he,  '  thou  art  our  Father  and  our  God  ;  therefore 
I  am  sure  thou  wilt  bring  to  naught  the  persecutors  of  thy 
children.  For,  shouldst  thou  fail  to  do  this,  thine  own 
cause,  being  connected  with  ours,  would  be  endangered. 
It  is  entirely  thine  own  concern  :  we,  by  thy  providence, 
have  been  compelled  to  take  a  part.  Thou  therefore  wilt 
be  our  defence  !' — While  I  was  listening  to  Luther  praying 
in  this  manner  at  a  distance,  my  soul  seemed  on  fire  within 
me,  to  hear  the  man  address  God  so  like  a  friend,  and  yet 
with  so  much  gravity  and  reverence  ;  and  also  to  hear  him, 
in  the  course  of  his  prayer,  insisting  on  the  promises  con- 
tained in  the  Psalms  as  if  he  was  sure  his  petitions  would 
be  granted." 

We  proceed  now  to  the  concluding  transactions  at  the 
diet. — The  conferences  between  the  two  parties  were  re- 
luctantly abandoned  by  the  Roman  Catholic  princes,  most 
of  whom  would  fain  have  effected  a  reconciliation  ;  but  then 
it  must  have  been  by  the  Protestants  submitting  to  their 
opponents  in  all  material  points,  and  restoring  the  old  order 
of  things.  The  terminating  of  the  conferences  was,  on  the 
other  hand,  highly  agreeable  to  Luther,  who  saw  that  recon- 
ciliation was  impossible,  and  that  no  good  could  result  from 
them. 

Finding  all  means  ineffectual  to  accomplish  his  purpose, 
the  emperor,  on  the  7th  of  September,  after  consultation 
with  the  partisans  of  Rome,  sent  for  the  Protestant  princes, 
and  in  the  presence  only  of  his  brother  and  a  select  num- 
ber of  his  confidential  advisers,  expressed  to  them,  by  the 


34         CONCLUDING  TRANSACTIONS 

mouth  of  Frederic  Count  Palatine,  his  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment at  their  conduct ;  "  that  they,  who  were  few  in 
number,  should  have  iatrodiiced  novelties,  contrary  to  tlie 
ancient  and  most  sacred  custom  of  the  universal  church ; 
should  have  framed  to  themselves  a  singular  kind  of  religion, 
different  from  what  was  professed  by  the  Catholics,  by  him- 
self, his  brother,  and  all  the  princes  and  states  of  the  empire  ; 
nay,  utterly  disagreeing  with  the  practice  of  all  the  kings  in 
the  earth,  and  of  their  own  ancestors.  Being  desirous,  how- 
ever, of  peace,  he  would  use  his  interest  with  the  pope  and 
the  other  princes  to  procure  a  general  council,  as  soon  as  the 
place  could  be  agreed  upon  ;  bat  still  on  this  condition,  that 
they  should,  in  the  mean  time,  follow  the  same  religion 
which  he  and  the  rest  of  the  princes  professed."  The  Prot- 
estants, in  reply,  "  denied  that  they  had  formed  any  new 
sect ;  thanked  him  for  the  proposal  of  a  council  ;  but,  as  to 
receiving  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which  had  been  abolished,  they  declared  that  they  could  not 
do  it  consistently  with  their  consciences."  He  then  ordered 
a  committee  to  be  chosen  for  framing  a  decree,  and  required 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  to  stay  four  days  longer  to  hear  it  read. 
After  hearing  the  draught  of  the  recess  read,  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  and  his  associates  remarked,  by  Pontanus,  "That 
they  could  never  admit  that  the  Confession  had  been  refuted  : 
on  the  contrary,  they  were  more  than  ever  convinced  that  it 
was  conformable  to  the  Word  of  God,  which  they  would 
more  fully  have  demonstrated  had  a  copy  of  the  Refutation 
been  allowed  them  ;  but  that,  as  that  had  been  refused,  they 
had,  with  great  care,  drawn  up  an  answer  to  so  much  of  its 
contents  as  they  had  been  able  to  recollect ;  which  answer 
they  now  begged  to  present  to  the  emperor.*  That,  with 
respect  to  disseminating  their  sentiments,  and  making  pros- 
elytes, they  had  compelled  no  man  to  embrace  their  doctrine, 
nor  ever  w^ould  do  it  ;  but  that,  as  they  had  stated  in  their 
protest  against  the  decree  of  Spires,  they  could  not  be  re- 
strained from  doing,  within  their  respective  jurisdictions, 
what  conscience  dictated  with  regard  to  religion.  That  they 
had  no  communion  with  anabaptists  and  sacramentarians  ; 
nor  were  such  persons  to  be  found  in  their  dominions.    And, 

*  Melancthoii's  Defence  of  the  Confession— one  of  the  symbolical  books) 
of  the  JiUtheran  church. 


AT    AUGSBURG.  35 

finally,  as  the  case  was  most  important,  and  some  of  tho 
parties  concerned  were  now  present  only  by  deputy,  they 
desired  to  have  a  copy  of  the  proposed  decree,  that  they 
might  fully  make  up  their  minds  respecting  it  before  it 
passed." 

The  apology,  or  answer  to  the  Refutation,  was  refused  by 
the  emperor;  who  the  next  day,  by  the  mouth  of  the  Elec- 
tor of  Brandenburg,  "  expressed  his  astonishment  at  the 
assurance  which  the  Protestant  princes  manifested,  in  affirm- 
ing the  truth  and  piety  of  their  religion,  and  thus  implicitly 
charging,  not  only  the  emperor  and  the  other  princes,  but 
all  their  own  ancestors,  as  heretics.  In  the  proposed  decree," 
he  told  them,  "  he  had  granted  more  than  he  ought  to  have 
done  ;  and  they  would  have  to  answer  for  the  serious  con- 
sequences which  might  follow,  if  they  did  not  acquiesce  in 
its  enactments.  That,  as  to  their  offered  answer  to  the 
Refutation,  he  had  before  declared  that  he  would  admit  of 
no  further  debate  :  he  neither  might  nor  ought  to  do  it  :  that 
nothing  should  be  altered  (in  their  favour)  in  the  decree  as 
already  drawn  up ;  and  that  unless  they  submitted  to  it,  and 
concurred  in  it,  he  would  take  another  course — in  fact,  that 
occasion  would  be  given  him  to  join  with  the  other  princes 
in  making  a  new  decree,  and  in  taking  such  measures  that 
the  sects  lately  sprung  up  might  be  utterly  rooted  out,  and 
the  ancient  faith,  rites,  and  ceremonies  be  preserved  in 
force — which  were  things  that  properly  belonged  to  his  care 
and  duty.  That  he  too  regarded  conscience,  and  the  salva- 
tion of  his  soul  ;  and  would  far  less  forsake  the  ancient 
religion,  which  had  been  handed  down  through  successive 
ages,  than  they  would  their  new  one."  The  Elector  of 
Brandenburg  further  took  upon  him  to  say,  "That,  unless 
they  obeyed,  the  rest  of  the  states  would  do  what  the  em- 
peror should  be  pleased  to  command  them  ;  they  having 
already  promised  to  assist  him  with  their  lives  and  fortunes, 
for  putting  an  end  to  these  dissensions ;  and  that  the  em- 
peror, on  the  other  hand,  had  passed  his  word  to  bend  all 
his  force  and  power  to  that  object,  and  not  again  to  quit  the 
limits  of  the  empire  before  he  had  seen  it  accomplished. 
These  things,"  the  elector  said,  "  he  now  represented  to 
them  by  order  of  the  princes  and  states." 

To  the  latter  part  of  this  address  the  Protestant  princes 
replied  with  spirit,  by  Pontanus  :  "  That  they  heard  it  with 


36  CONCLUDING  TRANSACTIONS 

astonishment :  that  they  had  given  no  cause  for  it ;  being  as 
ready  as  any  persons  to  venture  their  lives  and  fortunes  in 
the  service  of  the  emperor  and  the  empire."  Several  of  the 
princes  also  afterward  apologized  for  it,  declaring  it  was 
unauthorized,  and  that  they  had  told  the  emperor  so ;  who 
is  said  himself  to  have  pronounced  it  "unwarranted  and 
more  than  was  called  for." 

The  Elector  of  Saxony  left  Augsburg  that  evening,  after 
having,  with  singular  cheerfulness  and  alacrity  of  manner, 
in  taking  leave  of  the  emperor,  again  expressed  his  con- 
fidence, "That  the  doctrine  of  the  Confession  was  tirmly 
founded  on  Scripture,  and  that  the  gates  of  hell  could 
never  prevail,  or  even  stand  against  it."  A  few  days  after, 
at  Nuremberg,  being  asked  by  the  senate  his  opinion  con- 
cerning the  measures  which  it  would  be  proper  to  adopt,  he 
v/isely  and  piously  replied,  "  That  he  had  no  doubt  God 
would  mercifully  uphold  his  holy  Word,  and  the  confessors 
of  it :  that  his  intention  was  to  take  the  advice  of  all  his 
counsellors  and  divines,  and  that  he  recommended  to  them 
and  the  other  Protestant  states  to  do  the  same  ;  after  which 
they  might  communicate  counsels  with  one  another." 

Besides  the  "  Confession  of  Augsburg,"  two  others  were 
presented  to  the  diet  :  one,  called  the  Tetrapolitan,  deriving 
its  name  from  the  four  cities  of  Strasburg,  Constance,  Mem- 
mingen,  and  Lindaw,  and  the  other  that  of  Zwingle,  the 
Swiss  reformer.  The  former  of  these  was  drawn  up  by 
Bucer,  and,  as  well  as  that  of  which  we  have  so  largely 
treated,  was  esteemed  a  masterpiece.  Indeed  the  two  dif- 
fered, in  sentiment,  in  little  else  than  the  article  of  the 
Eucharist — concerning  the  sense  in  which  Christ's  body  and 
blood  are  present  in  that  sacrament.  Bucer,  who  seems  to 
have  occupied  a  middle  ground  between  Luther  and  Zwin- 
gle upon  that  point,  and  more  nearly  the  ground  of  our  own 
church  than  either  of  them,  earnestly  pleaded  that,  as  the 
danger  seemed  to  thicken,  and  their  difference  did  not  ap- 
pear very  essential,  they  should  all  join  in  one  confession  ; 
a  union  which  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  also  had  long  been 
labouring  to  effect :  but  here  even  the  mild  and  yielding 
Melancthon  was  as  tenacious  as  Luther  himself  could  be, 
and  would  by  no  means  admit  of  it,  or  hold  communion 
with  those  who  differed  from  him  upon  this  subject !     Such, 


AT    AUGSBURG.  37 

alas  !  is  the  weakness,  and,  on  one  point  or  ailother,  the 
narrowness  of  human  nature,  even  in  the  best  and  greatest 
of  men. 

Of  the  Confession  of  the  four  cities  a  separate  refutation, 
and  that  of  a  sharper  kind,  was  prepared  by  Faber  and 
Eckius.  The  authors  of  these  repeated  refutations  were 
Uberally  rewarded  for  the  services  they  had  rendered  ;  Faber, 
in  particular,  soon  after  obtaining  from  Ferdinand  the  bishop- 
ric of  Vienna ;  which  gave  occasion  to  Erasmus  sarcasti- 
cally to  remark,  that  ^'poor  Luther  made  many  rich.'''' 

That  eminent  scholar  had  been  invited  to  be  present  at 
Augsburg,  and  to  assist  with  his  advice  in  the  religious  dis- 
cussions :  but  he  declined  the  honour,  having  no  inclination, 
to  incur  the  odium  with  which  it  would  be  attended,  prob- 
ably from  both  parties.  Indeed  he  was  seriously  ill  at  the 
time.  He  corresponded,  however,  with  different  persons  con- 
cerned— Campeggio,  Melancthon,  and  others  ;  still  preser- 
ving his  character,  by  "  hanging  always,"  as  Maimbourg 
not  unjustly  expresses  it,  "  in  suspense  between  the  two 
parties."  He  pleaded,  however^  for  the  toleration  of  the 
Protestants,  as  the  only  means  of  preventing  dangerous 
extremities.  "  The  power  of  the  emperor,"  he  writes  to 
Campeggio,  "  is  great ;  but  all  do  not  acknowledge  it.  The 
Germans  so  acknowledge  his  authority  as  rather  to  com- 
mand than  to  obey.  Luther's  doctrine  is  spread  all  over 
Germany ;  so  that  from  the  ocean  as  far  as  Switzerland 
that  chain  of  mischief  is  stretched.  If  the  emperor  there- 
fore should  declare  that  he  would  in  all  things  comply  with 
the  interest  and  desire  of  the  pope,  it  is  to  be  feared  he 
would  have  but  few  to  approve  his  doings.  Time  and 
patience  sometimes  cure  the  worst  distempers  :  the  Bohe- 
mians were  tolerated,  though  they  acknowledged  not  the 
pope  ;  and  if  the  Lutherans  were  treated  in  the  same  man- 
ner, it  would  not  be  amiss,  in  my  judgment."  "  Such,  how- 
ever," remarks  Maimbourg,  with  evident  satisfaction,  "such 
were  not  the  sentiments  of  the  emperor  or  of  the  Catholic 
princes." 

The  diet  continued  to  sit  about  six  weeks  after  the  depart- 
ure of  the  Protestant  princes,  engaged  in  providing  sup- 
plies for  the  Turkish  war,  and  arranging  other  matters  ;  and 
it  then  closed  l)y  issuing  its  recess,  on  the  19th  of  Novem- 
ber.    This  decree  enjoined  the  continuance,  or  the  restora- 

VoL.  II.~D 


38         CONCLUDING  TRANSACTIONS 

tion  where  they  had  been  aboUshed,  of  all  the  accustomed 
rites  and  superstitions ;  condemned  the  denial  of  "  free 
will"*  as  "  brutish,  and  reproachful  to  God,"  and  rejected 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  only  ;  ordained  that 
married  priests  should  be  ejected  from  their  livings,  which 
should  immediately  be  given  to  others ;  but  that  such  as 
should  forsake  their  wives,  and  return  to  their  former  state, 
might  be  restored  by  their  bishops,  with  the  consent  of  the 
pope  or  his  legate  ;  the  rest  were  to  have  "  no  refuge  or 
sanctuary,  but  to  be  banished  or  otherwise  condignly  pun- 
ished." It  declared  null  and  void  "  all  unreasonable  compacts 
which  the  priests  had  anywhere  been  forced  to  make,  and  all 
unjust  alienations  of  church  property :"  that  "  nothing 
should  be  changed  in  those  things  which  concerned  the  faith 
and  worship  of  God  ;  and  that  they  who  acted  otherwise 
should  forfeit  life  and  goods :"  that "  monasteries  and  religious 
houses  which  had  been  destroyed  should  be  rebuilt ;  and 
such  persons  within  the  territories  of  the  Protestants  as 
followed  the  ancient  faith  should  be  taken  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  empire  :  that  application  should  be  made  to 
the  pope  for  a  general  council,  to  be  summoned  within  six 
months,  and  to  meet  within  twelve  months  afterward  :  that 
no  appeal  or  protest  against  the  enactments  of  this  decree 
should  have  force  :  and  that,  to  the  end  that  the  decree  might 
be  observed  and  put  in  execution  as  far  as  it  concerned  faith 
and  religion,  all  men  should  be  obliged  to  employ  whatever 
fortune  God  had  been  pleased  to  bestow  upon  them,  and  their 
blood  and  lives  besides  :  and  that  no  man  should  be  admitted 
into  the  judicature  in  the  Imperial  Chamber"  (the  supreme 
court  of  the  empire,  supported  at  the  common  charge,  for 
determining  all  questions  that  arose  among  the  different 
states  and  members),  "  unless  he  sanctioned  this  decree 
made  about  religion  ;  and  that  those  who  were  admitted  and 
refused  to  do  so  should  be  expelled." 

Such  was  the  treatment  which  the  pope,  the  emperor,  and 
the  great  majority  of  the  princes  and  states  of  Germany 
thought  proper  for  men  to  whom,  after  all  allowances,  we 

*The  reader  must  distinguish  between  free  will  in  the  sense  in  which 
itwas  denied  by  the  reformers,  and  is  rejected  by  our  church  (Art.  X), 
and  free  agency.  All  that  is  meant  to  be  denied  is,  that  fallen  man  will 
ever  choose  tliat  which  is  spiritually  good,  without  the  preveuient  grace 
of  God. 


AT    AUGSBURG.  39 

may  apply  the  language  of  the  apostle,  and  say  concerning 
them,  "Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  Such  was 
the  *'  infamous"*  decree  of  the  diet  of  Augsburo-.  We 
cannot  scruple  to  apply  this  epithet  to  it,  whether  we  con- 
template its  particular  clauses  concerning  the  married 
priests — holding  out  favour  and  reward  to  those  who  would 
"  forsake  their  wives,"  but  depriving  of  "  all  refuge  and 
sanctuary,"  as  the  most  atrocious  of  criminals,  those  who 
should  retain  them  ;  concerning  the  restoration  of  all  the 
exposed  and  exploded  superstitions  and  idolatries  ;  and  con- 
cerning the  obligations  of  all  men  to  employ  their  blood 
and  treasure  in  giving  effect  to  these  enactments  : — or 
whether  we  consider  its  general  tenor  and  design.  It  openly 
trampled  under  foot  all  the  sacred  rights  of  conscience,  and 
breathed  a  determination  to  suppress  by  force  and  bloodshed, 
and  at  the  risk  of  kindling  the  flames  of  civil  war  through- 
out Germany,  the  light  which  had  lately  broken  in,  and  the 
reformation  which  was  in  progress.  One  of  the  many  im- 
portant lessons  which  we  are  to  learn  from  the  review  of 
such  histories  is,  the  duty  of  gratitude  for  the  exemption 
which  we  enjoy  from  evils  of  this  kind,  and  for  the  blessed 
changes  which  have  taken  place  since  the  commencement 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  At  the  same  time  we  must  not 
too  confidently  rely  on  the  continuance  of  our  present  repose 
and  prosperity.  Still  the  spirit  of  the  world  is  hostile  to 
that  which  is  of  God  ;  and  it  may  again  show  itself  to  be  so 
beyond  our  expectations.  It  behooves  us  "  while  we  have 
the  Ught  to  walk  in  the  light,  that  we  may  be  the  children 
of  the  light — lest  darkness  come  upon  us  :"  and  still  to 
remember  that,  "  if  we  love  father,  or  mother,  or  our  own 
lives  more  than  Christ,"  we  are  not  and  "cannot  be  his 
disciples."  f 

The  principles  which  were  advanced  in  the  interviews 
between  the  Protestants  and  the  more  dignified  of  their 
opponents,  particularly  the  emperor  himself,  may  also  de- 
serve our  remark.  They  were  such  as  are  still  urged,  though 
now  generally  in  a  more  covert  manner,  against  those  who 
exhibit  the  "  singularity"  which  ever  belongs,  more  or  less, 
to  "  the  power  of  godliness,"  in  this  fallen  world.  "  The 
Protestants  were  few  in  number,  an  inconsiderable  party : 

*  Dean  Milner. 


40  CONCLUDING    TRANSACTIONS. 

the)^  onght  to  submit  to  the  majority,  and  follow  the  same 
religion  with  the  emperor  and  the  rest  of  the  princes. 
Theirs  was  a  notel  doctrine  :  they  introduced  a  singular 
kind  of  religion,  disagreeing  with  the  practice  of  all  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  If  they  were  right,  all  others  were  wrong ; 
and  even /Ac/r  own  a7«cc^/o?"5  all  heretics.  T\ve\x  assiirance 
could  not  be  sufticiently  wondered  at.  The  emperor  had 
regard  to  conscioice  as  well  as  they,  and  would  maintain  the 
aiicient  religion."  It  is  somewhat  amusing  to  hear  the 
gravity  with  which  these  arguments  are  urged  ;  while  all 
appeals  to  the  authority  of  Scripture  are  considered  as  super- 
seded by  them.  Luther  subsequently  made  remarks  on 
some  of  them,  which  mp.y  deserve  our  attention.  Lecturing 
on  Isaiah  xix.  11,  "  How  say  ye,  I  am  the  son  of  the  wise, 
the  son  of  ancient  kings  V  he  says,  "  This  was  the  first 
argument  of  the  ungodly  against  the  righteous,  and  it  will 
be  the  last :  '  Would  you,  standing  alone,  condemn  so  an- 
cient a  church  ?  Are  you  alone  possessed  of  wisdom  ]  and 
were  our  ancestors  blind  V  With  these  two  things,  the 
reputation  of  wisdom,  and  the  boast  of  antiquity,  their 
minds  are  inflated.  The  Diatribe  of  Erasmus  amounts  to 
nothing  but  what  is  here  written,  *  I  am  the  son  of  the 
ancient.'"  Again,  on  xxviii.  21,  22 — the  rejection  of  the 
Jews  :  "  They  assail  us  with  this  argument,  '  Do  you  think 
that  you,  so  few  in  number,  are  the  church,  in  preference  to 
us,  who  are  numerous,  powerful,  and  possessed  of  ofiicial 
right  V  We  simply  answer,  as  Paul  did  to  the  Jews,  However 
many  and  great  ye  be,  if  ye  believe  not  in  Christ,  and  place 
not  your  trust  in  his  righteousness,  we  regard  you  not.  Ye 
are  not  the  church  by  virtue  of  your  filling  ecclesiastical 
oftices.  It  is  written  that  the  abomination  may  '  stand  in 
the  holy  place,'  and  that  Antichrist  shall  '  sit  in  the  temple 
of  God.'  The  church  is  known  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  not 
by  office  and  numbers." 

Finally,  it  is  probably  to  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  con- 
gratulation, that  all  the  attempts  to  efiect  the  proposed 
accommodation  between  the  parties  failed.  Had  it  been 
accomplished,  it  must  have  been  by  concessions  Vvhich  would 
have  proved  eventually,  if  not  immediately,  dangerous  to  the 
Protestant  cause.  Luther  well  observes,  "  If  mutual  con- 
cessions are  made,  they  will  take  ours  largely,  more  largely, 
most  largely ;  and  make  their  own  sparingly,  more  sparingly, 


LUTHER   OS    THE    EDICT    OF   AUGSBURG.         41 

most  sparingly."  Seckendorf  seems  also  with  good  reason 
jealous  of  leaving  the  Roman  Catholic  prelates  in  possession 
of  that  full  jurisdiction  which  Melancthon,  and  even  Lu- 
ther, would  have  conceded  to  them.  It  might  have  been 
kept  in  check  while  such  men  as  the  first  reformers  presided 
over  the  Protestant  societies  ;  but  when  they  were  removed, 
and  less  powerful  and  less  watchful  pastors  succeeded,  it 
might  have  gone  far  towards  carrying  things  gradually  back 
to  their  former  state.  Here  too  the  finger  of  Providence  is 
to  be  acknowledged  and  adored. 


CHAPTER  XVHI. 


Protestant  Measures  of  Defence — League  of  Smalkald — Pa- 
cification  of  Nuremberg — Death  of  the  Elector  Johriy  and 
Succession  of  John  Frederic — Progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion— Writings  of  Luther. 

The  decree  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg  naturally  excited  the 
most  serious  apprdiensions  in  all  the  members  of  the  Prot- 
estant body  :  and  they  accordingly  proceeded  to  form  such 
plans,  and  to  adopt  such  measures,  as  appeared  most  likely 
to  protect  thera  against  the  rising  storm. 

Luther,  sensible  how  greatly  the  minds  of  the  German 
people  would  be  agitated  on  the  occasion,  and  how  much 
those,  in  particular,  who  favoured  his  cause  might  need  both 
encouragement  and  couns<^l,  published,  before  the  close  of 
the  year,  his  "  Warning  to  his  beloved  Countrymen."  In 
this  work  he  complains  loudly  of  the  inexorable  spirit  of  his 
adversaries,  especially  the  ecclesiastics,  "  whom,  in  the  late 
diet,  no  submissions,  no  entreaties,  no  considerations  what- 
ever could  soften.  Their  threats,  however,  he  is  confident, 
would  be  vain  and  impotent.  There  was  even  danger  of 
their  raising  popular  seditions  against  their  authors  :  which, 
notwithstandhig,  he  condemned,  and  discountenanced  by  all 
means  in  his  power.  If  war  should  ensue,  his  party  were 
free  from  the  guilt  of  it,  and  might  expect  protection  from 
God-:  but  for  himself,  if  he  lost  his  life  in  the  contest,  the 
D2 


42  LUTHER  ON  THE  EDICT  OF  AUGSBURG. 

pope  would  find  this  a  fatal  blow  to  his  own  cause.  His 
adversaries,"  he  affirmed,  "  were  compelled  most  reluctantly 
to  acknowledge,  that  the  Confession  contained  no  article 
contrary  to  Scripture,  but  only  to  the  pontitical  impositions  : 
they  therefore  were  guilty  of  tyranny  and  murder,  who 
shed  the  blood  of  innocent  persons  for  no  other  ciime  than 
adherence  to  the  Protestant  doctrines.  If  war  were  com- 
menced against  them,  he  for  his  part  would  write  nothing, 
either  to  incite  his  friends  to  self-defence  or  to  discounte- 
nance them  in  it,  but  would  leave  to  the  law3''ers  the  question 
of  its  equity  :  yet  he  must  own  that  he  could  not  condemn 
, those  who  defended  themselves  against  rapine  and  slaugh- 
ter." He  animadverts  severely  on  the  papal  party  for  con- 
cealing their  "  Refutation."  "  They  were  ashamed  of  it, 
or  afraid  to  let  it  see  the  light.  Indeed,  when  read  in  the 
diet  it  was  heard  in  sad  and  downcast  silence  ;  the  very 
reverse  of  the  joy  and  approbation  with  which  the  Confes- 
sion was  listened  to."  He  adverts  to  some  of  the  arts 
which  had  been  practised  at  Augsburg ;  and  then,  "  as  he 
knows  they  called  him  '  the  prophet  of  Germany,'  he  says 
he  would  assume  the  office,  and  warn  the  people  not  to  take 
arms  against  the  Protestant  princes,  even  though  the  em- 
peror should  require  it ;  for  the  command  would  be  one 
which  he  had  no  right  to  give.  He  however  could  not 
apprehend  such  a  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  emperor." 
He  again  recounts  and  exposes  the  monstrous  errors  and 
abuses  of  popery  ;  and  concludes  with  repeatmg  his  earnest 
deprecation  of  forcible  and  warlike  measures,  and  declaring 
his  own  ardent  desire  of  peace  and  quiet. 

He  soon  after  published  "  Animadversions  on  the  Edict 
of  Augsburg,"  and  a  "  Defence"  of  this  and  the  preceding 
work  against  an  anonymous  censurer  of  them,  who  wrote 
from  Dresden. 

Thus  Luther,  in  his  appropriate  way,  did  his  part  to  for- 
tify the  minds  of  the  people,  and  to  support  the  great  cause 
of  the  reformation.  The  princes  and  states  also  did  the 
same  in  their  way.  They  held  various  meetings,  and 
formed  leagues  for  mutual  defence. 

The  landgrave,  more  impetuous  than  the  rest,  and  less 
averse  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Swiss  reformers  respecting  the 
sacrament,  entered  into  alliance  with  Zuric,  Basle,  and 
Strasburg.     The  Protestant  leaders  also  met  at  Smalkald, 


LEAGUE    OF  SMALKALD.  43 

in  Upper  Saxony,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  famous 
league  which  took  its  name  from  tliat  place.  Seven  princes 
and  twenty-four  cities  entered  into  the  league.  The  citiesin 
general  wished  the  Swiss  to  be  admitted  as  parties  to  it,  but 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the  Marquis  of  Brandenburg,  and 
*v  others,  would  not  agree  to  this,  on  account  of  their  differ- 
^/  ence  on  the  subject  of  the  sacrament ;  a  determination  in 
which  they  were  unhappily  confirmed  by  Luther.  The 
rejection  of  the  Swiss  alliance  seems,  in  many  points  of 
view,  to  be  just  subject  of  regret :  it  displayed  a  discord 
among  brethren  :  but,  as  far  as  it  only  detracted  from  the 
strength  of  the  confederation,  we  may  concur  in  the  pious 
sentiment  of  Melancthon.  He  regards  the  hand  of  Divine 
Providence  in  it,  and  fears  that,  if  all  had  been  united,  con- 
fidence in  their  own  strength  might  have  led  them  to  pro- 
ceed with  a  precipitation  and  impetuosity  unbecoming  a 
religious  reformation. 

The  confederates  further  addressed  letters  to  the  Kings 
of  England,  France,  and  Denmark.  To  the  last  of  these 
they  proposed  a  concurrence  in  their  league  :  of  the  two 
former  they  chiefly  asked  that  they  would  use  their  influ- 
ence to  obtain  a  free  general  council.  Friendly  answers 
were  received  from  these  monarchs  ;  and  the  King  of  France, 
in  particular,  would  doubtless  have  been  glad  to  secure  allies 
within  the  empire.  No  specific  assistance  however  was  at 
this  period  derived  from  these  foreign  powers,  except  a  small 
supply  in  money  from  the  King  of  England. 

In  addition  to  the  object  of  mutual  defence,  it  appears  to 
have  been  proposed  by  the  contracting  parties  at  Smalkald, 
that  learned  men,  divines  and  lawyers,  should  be  deputed  by 
them,  to  draw  up  a  scheme  of  rites  and  government  to  be 
observed  in  all  the  reformed  churches,  that  they  might  not 
be  exposed  to  the  reproach  of  "  doing  every  man  what  was 
right  in  his  own  eyes."  The  task,  however,  was  found  to  be 
one  of  great  delicacy,  and  attended  with  so  many  difficulties, 
that  the  design  was  abandoned.* 

*  This  acknowledgment  would  be  highly  gratifying  to  a  writer  of  the 
tone  and  temper  of  ISossuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux.  In  the  fourth  book  of  his 
celebrated  "Histoire  des  Variations,"  he  has  collected  proofs  of  the 
defective  order  and  discipline  of  the  Protestant  churches.  But  even  the 
disorders  incident  to  liberty  are  preferable  to  the  constrained  uniformity 
produced  by  absolute  despotism :  and,  much  as  the  Christian  mind  will 


44  LEAGUE    OF    SMALKALD. 

The  question  here  presents  itself,  how  far  it  was  lawful 
for  the  Protestant  princes  and  states  to  defend  themselves, 
by  force  of  arms,  against  their  superior  lord  the  emperor, 
and  the  decrees  of  the  diet.  Various  quotations  from  Lu- 
ther upon  this  subject,  as  collected  by  Dr.  Milner,  have 
appeared  in  the  former  volume  of  this  history  :  but  we  may 
remark,  that  the  reasons  assigned  in  some  of  them  were 
either  temporary  or  not  very  satisfactory  :*  and  the  passages 
do  not  appear  to  exhibit  Luther's  latest  and  most  matured 
judgment  on  the  question.  On  some  of  them  Seckendorf 
very  justly  remarks,  that  Luther  assumed  that  the  German 
princes  were  "  absolutely  subjects  of  the  emperor,"  as  the 
people  under  a  despotic  government  are  of  their  monarch ; 
"  a  position  which  statesmen  and  the  legal  authorities  could 
never  admit."  It  appears,!  that  the  several  princes  and 
states  were  sovereign  within  their  respective  dominions  ; 
that  the  emperor  was  only  the  head  of  the  confederacy 
formed  among  them  for  their  common  interest ;  that,  on  his 
inauguration,  he  entered  into  a  solemn  engagement  (styled 
"  the  capitulation")  to  preserve  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
each  inviolate  ;  and  that  neither  he  alone,  nor  even  the 
assembled  diet,  could  be  entitled  to  interfere  in  the  religious 
and  other  merely  internal  regulations  of  any  state,  without 
the  consent,  and  much  more  in  opposition  to  the  sentiments, 
of  its  head.  On  these  grounds  even  the  most  conscientious 
of  the  princes  became  satisfied,  and  Luther  concurred  with 
them,  that  they  would  be  justified  in  opposing  force  to  force, 
for  the  defence  of  their  own  rights,  and  of  the  civil  and 
religious  liberties  of  their  subjects,  in  case  the  emperor 
should  attempt  to  execute,  by  arms,  the  edict  of  Augsburg. 
To  this  strict  line  of  defence  against  actual  violence  all  the 
leading  parties,  with  one  exception,  confined  their  measures. 
The  landgrave,  as  on  a  former  occasion,^  was  not  content 

find  to  lament  in  the  collections  of  this  acute  enemy  of  the  reformation, 
it  will  still  feel  itself,  when  taking  even  the  most  unfavourable  view  of  the 
Saxon  churches  of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  much 
more  resembling  that  presented  by  the  apostolic  epistles,  than  in  taking 
any  view,  at  all  approaching  to  fairness,  of  the  Romish  church  of  the 
same  period.  Let  the  confessions  and  lamentations  of  the  reformers, 
which  Hossuet  has  brought  together  be  qualified  by  such  passages  as 
that  of  Luther,  addressed  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  See  p.  27. 
•  V<iL  i  p.  iW.       t  Robertsoa's  Charles  V.,  vol.  i.      %  Vol.  i.  p.  330. 


PACIFICATION    OF    NrREMBERG.  45 

with  this  :  he  would  have  begun  the  attack  ;  and  some  few 
of  the  cities  seconded  him  :  but  his  counsel  was  justly 
rejected  and  condemned  by  all  the  rest. 

The  expediency  of  the  course  adopted  by  the  Protestant 
powers  is  another  question.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
their  league,  combining  with  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
the  times,  held  the  emperor  in  check,  and  formed  the  great 
obstacle  to  his  ambitious  designs  with  respect  to  Germany 
for  many  years  ;  and  thus  served  to  protect  the  reformation 
to  the  very  end  of  Luther's  life  :  but  it  was  at  the  same 
time,  and  for  this  very  reason,  in  a  high  degree  galling  to 
the  proud  and  aspiring  mind  of  Charles,  and  tended  to  irri- 
tate the  severit}'^  of  his  proceedings  when  he  did  succeed  in 
crushing  the  confederation,  and,  as  he  vainly  imagined,  had 
finally  triumphed  over  the  Protestant  cause. 

But  for  the  present  it  pleased  Providence  to  relieve  the 
Protestants  from  their  apprehensions  in  an  unexpected 
manner.  The  emperor  was  by  no  means  prepared  to  en- 
gage in  a  civil  war.  The  war  with  the  Turks  was  of  itself 
suiiicienlly  urgent.  They  had  again  invaded  Hungary 
with  an  immense  army,  and  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  de- 
throning Ferdinand  :  and  the  Protestants,  before  the  late 
diet  separated,  had  declared  that  they  could  neither  furnish 
any  aid  against  the  Turks,  unless  they  were  themselves 
protected,  and  peace  secured  v.'ithin  the  empire  ;  nor  con- 
tribute to  the  expenses  of  the  imperial  chamber,  unless  they 
were  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other  states,  with 
respect  to  that  court.  Contrary  also  to  their  solemn  protesta- 
tions, as  well  as  to  those  of  some  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
princes,  Charles  had  latel}'-  procured  his  brother  to  be 
elected  King  of  the  Romans,  and  his  successor  in  the  em- 
pire, which  was  considered  as  a  step  towards  establishing 
hereditary  and  absolute  authorit}-,  repugnant  to  the  consti- 
tution and  subversive  of  the  liberties  of  Germany.  On  all 
these  grounds  he  was  desirous  of  conciliation,  and  readily 
listened  to  the  proposals  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  and 
Lewis  Elector  Palatine,  who  offered  to  mediate  between 
him  and  the  Protestants.  By  this  means,  after  many  diffi- 
culties and  protracted  conferences,  a  pacific  arrangement 
was  at  length  effected,  on  terms  highly  advantageous  to  the 
Protestants.  This  pacification,  called,  from  the  place  where 
it  was  agreed  upon,  the  Pacification  of  Nuremberg,  was 


46  PACIFICATION    OF   NUREMBERG. 

settled  in  that  city  in  the  month  of  July,  1532,  and  solemnly 
ratified  the  month  following,  in  the  imperial  diet  held  at 
Ratisbon.  "By  this  treaty,"  says  Dr.  Robertson,  "the 
Protestants  of  Germany,  who  had  hitherto  been  viewed 
only  as  a  reHgious  sect,  came  henceforth  to  be  considered  as 
a  political  body  of  no  small  consequence."  How  far  their 
attainment  of  political  consequence  was  conducive  to  the 
interests  of  genuine  religion  among  them,  or  how  far,  on 
the  contrary,  it  was  prejudicial,  and  required  some  powerful 
counterpoise,  may  furnish  matter  for  grave  and  serious  con- 
sideration ;  but  one  cannot  forbear  rejoicing  in  their  present 
deUverance,  and  in  the  triumph  of  a  righteous  cause. 

Scultetus  here  very  properly  calls  us  to  admire  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  which  made  the  Turkish  sultan  the  great 
instrument  of  annulling,  or  at  least  suspending  the  execu- 
tion of  the  decree  of  Augsburg  against  the  reformation. 

Maimbourg  affects  to  regard  this  pacification  as  a  mere 
provisional  measure  ;  and  such  it  might  really  be,  as  ex- 
tending only  to  the  time  of  holding  a  general  council,  or 
some  assembly  of  the  empire,  authorized  to  decide  upon  the 
questions  at  issue  ;  but  Pallavicini  gives  us  to  understand 
that  it  was  considered  as  provisional  in  another  sense, 
namely,  as  made  only  to  meet  the  present  exigencies,  and 
intended  to  be  rescinded  when  circumstances  should  permit. 
He  says,  the  emperor  told  the  pope,  that,  "if  the  difficulties 
of  the  times  were  got  over,  the  Protestants  might  be  com- 
pelled to  observe  the  former  edicts  of  Worms  and  Augsburg, 
which  were  not  dead,  but  only  slept." 

After  the  pacification,  the  Protestants,  in  testimony  of 
their  gratitude  to  the  emperor,  exerted  themselves  with  ex- 
traordinary zeal  to  support  him  in  the  war  against  the 
Turks  ;  and  the  other  states  vying  with  them,  such  an  army 
was  raised  as  Germany  had  seldom  seen.  Charles,  putting 
himself,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  marched 
in  person  against  Solyman.  Each  of  them,  however,  dread- 
ing the  power  and  good  fortune  of  the  other,  they  conducted 
themselves  with  such  caution  that  no  advantage  could  he 
gained  on  either  side,  and  the  campaign  afforded  no  memora- 
ble event.  At  its  close,  Solyman  marched  back  to  Constan- 
tinople ;  and  it  is  remarked  that  for  Charles,  "  in  his  first 
essay  in  arms,  to  have  opposed  such  a  leader  was  no  small 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEROR.       47 

honour ;  to  have  obUged  him  to  retreat  merited  very  con- 
siderable praise."* 

Immediately  after  the  retreat  of  the  Turks,  the  emperor, 
impatient  to  revisit  Spain,  set  out  for  Italy,  on  his  way 
thither  ;  and  again  met  the  pope  at  Bologna,  being  seriously 
intent  upon  procuring  such  a  general  council  as  might 
satisfy  the  Germans.  The  whole  of  Charles's  conduct, 
however,  had  given  no  satisfaction  to  the  pope,  who  began 
to  conclude  that  there  was  "little  hope  in  the  affairs  of 
Germany,  and  that  it  behooved  him  to  think  of  a  preventive, 
that  the  disease  might  not  pass  to  other  parts  of  the  body 
of  the  church."*  In  fact,  the  mind  of  Clement  was  now 
alienated  from  the  emperor,  and  he  henceforward  courted 
the  alliance  of  the  King  of  France. 

But  while  Charles's  conduct  was  regarded  at  Rome  as  a 
portentous  deviation  from  the  duty  of  a  good  son  of  the 
church,  such  as  "  gave  cause  to  fear  a  sudden  revenge  from 
heaven,"  it  was  differently  thought  of  by  more  impartial 
persons.  They  commended  his  piety  and  wisdom  in  en- 
deavouring to  unite  all  parties  against  the  Turk,  the  com- 
mon enemy  of  Christendom ;  and  remarked,  "  that  the 
maxim,  so  renowned  at  Rome,  '  That  it  was  more  meet  to 
persecute  heretics  than  infidels,'  was  well  fitted  for  the  pope's 
dominion,  but  not  to  the  general  benefit  of  the  Christian 
world."t 

With  respect  to  the  council,  the  pope,  making  a  merit 
of  necessity,  affected  great  zeal  for  it,  so  much  so  as  to 
send  a  nuncio,  with  an  ambassador  from  the  emperor,  into 
Germany,  to  make  arrangements  preparatory  to  it  with  the 
Protestants  ;  but  he  would  never  agree  to  hold  it  on  any 
other  terms  than  those  which  he  knew  would  not  be  ac- 
cepted :  such  as,  that  it  should  be  called  by  the  authority 
of  the  pope  alone ;  that  it  should  be  held  in  Italy  (where 
it  would  be  under  his  control);  and  that  the  Protestants 
should  bind  themselves  to  submit  to  its  decisions,  even 
before  it  was  settled  by  what  rule  they  were  to  be  formed 
— whether  by  that  of  Scripiure  alone,  or  by  human  in  com- 
mon with  Divine  authority ;  and  that  none  should  have  votes 
but  those  to  whom  the  papal  usages  assigned  them.  In 
short,  he  would  agree  to  no  council  at  all  but  one  that  should 

*  Robertson.  t  Father  Paul. 


48  DEATH    OF    THE 

be  guided  by  his  own  will.  The  cardinals  more  openly 
urged  that  none  was  necessary ;  for  "  a  council,"  said  they, 
"could  not  choose  but  approve  what  Leo  X.  had  deter- 
mined, except  it  would  become  a  conventicle,  or  unlawful 
assembly,  as  all  those  were  v^'hich  had  separated  themselves 
from  the  doctrine  and  obedience  of  the  pope." 

The  church  of  Christ  was  about  this  time  deprived  of 
three  eminent  persons,  who  had  rendered  the  greatest  ser- 
vices to  the  reformation.  The  first  of  these  was  Ulric 
Zwingle,  the  Swiss  reformer,  who  fell  in  a  battle  which  took 
place  between  the  popish  and  the  Protestant  cantons,  Octo- 
ber 11,  1531,  and  to  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  his 
country,  he  had  accompanied  the  troops  of  Zuric.  He  was 
only  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age  :  and  his  death  was 
followed  six  weeks  after,  by  that  of  his  distinguished  coad- 
jutor, GGcolampadius  of  Basle,  five  years  older  than  him- 
self. The  closing  scenes  of  each  of  these  great  men  fur- 
nish interesting  and  edifying  materials  to  the  Christian 
historian,  but  they  naturally  belong  to  another  branch  of  the 
reformation. 

The  contemporaneous  deaths  of  these  two  persons,  who 
had  effected  such  an  extensive  change  of  religion  in  Swit- 
zerland, gave  great  encouragement  to  the  enemies  of  the 
reformation :  and  they  had  besides  a  near  prospect  of  the 
removal  of  Luther  himself  only  a  month  afterward.  He 
was  seized  with  violent  and  very  dangerous  illness,  and  his 
physicians  pronounced  him  on  the  verge  of  apoplexy.  But 
something  of  that  extraordinary  kind  which  pervaded  his 
history  marked  his  behaviour  on  this  occasion.  Hearing 
those  about  him  (among  whom  were  Melancthon  and  Rora- 
rius)  remark,  what  triumph  it  would  occasion  to  the  papists, 
should  he  too  be  taken  off  at  that  period,  he  roused  him- 
self, and  said  with  a  daring  confidence,  "  But  I  shall  not 
die  now  ;  that  I  know  for  certain.  God  will  not  confirm 
the  papal  abominations  by  my  death  at  this  time.  He  will 
not  give  to  them  that  additional  occasion  of  boasting. 
Satan,  indeed,  would  willingly  kill  me  if  he  could  ;  he 
hourly  besets  my  steps  ;  but  not  what  he  wills,  but  what 
the  Lord  wills,  shall  be  done."  And  he  proved  right  in  his 
anticipation. 

The   Saxon  church,  however,  sustained  a  heavy  loss  a 


ELECTOR   JOHN.  49 

little  more  than  six  months  after,  in  the  death  of  the  third 
illustrious  person  referred  to,  the  excellent  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony, John,  surnamed  the  Constant.  He  survived  the  decree 
of  the  diet  confirming  the  pacification  of  Nuremberg  only 
thirteen  days.  For  some  time  past  he  had  been  in  an  infirm 
state  of  health,  but  had  in  a  measure  rallied  again,  when  he 
was  suddenly  seized  with  apoplexy,  and  died,  before  his 
sons  or  any  other  of  his  relations  could  come  to  him,  at  a 
hunting  seat  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wittemberg.  Luther 
and  Melancthon  were  sent  for,  but  they  found  him  in  the 
article  of  death.  Luther  said  of  him,  "  With  him  probity 
expired,  as  with  his  brother  Frederic  wisdom  had  done  :" 
a  mode  of  expression  which  sufficiently  limits  itself,  while 
it  strongly  marks  the  distinguishing  virtue  of  the  respective 
characters.  He  was  affectionately  attached  to  Luther  ;  and 
in  Luther's  late  dangerous  illness  he  visited  him,  and 
among  other  things  said  to  him,  "  I  beg  you  will  not  be 
anxious  about  your  wife  and  children,  in  case  God  should 
call  you  hence  :  I  will  consider  them  as  intrusted  to  me, 
and  will  take  care  of  them  as  my  own."  He  took  such 
delight,  we  are  told,  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  he  would 
frequently  have  them  read  to  him  by  youths  of  noble  fami- 
nes, as  much  as  six  hours  in  the  day  ;  an  exercise  which, 
with  such  an  example  before  their  eyes,  must  have  tended 
as  much  to  the  benefit  of  his  youthful  readers  as  to  his  own. 
He  was  accustomed  also  to  take  down  the  sermons  which 
he  heard  with  the  greatest  accuracy.  Such  habits,  for  one 
in  his  rank  of  life,  and  involved  in  so  much  important  busi- 
ness, seem  to  carry  us  back  to  the  days  of  David  or  of 
Daniel,  and  show  what  may  and  will  be  done  when  the 
heart  is  thoroughly  engaged. — His  deadness  to  the  world 
also  was  very  admirable.  When  he  was  informed  of  the 
rebellion  of  the  rustics,  which  led  to  so  afflictive  a  war  in 
Germany,  he  said,  "  If  it  be  the  will  of  God  that  I  should 
continue  a  prince,  as  I  have  hitherto  been,  his  will  be 
done  ;  but  if  otherwise,  I  can  descend  to  a  lower  station  ; 
fewer  horses  and  an  humbler  equipage  will  serve  me  very 
well."  Luther  preached  and  published  two  sermons  on  his 
death,  from  1  Thess.  iv.  13,  14,  shedding  many  tears  while 
he  delivered  them.  In  the  former  of  them  he  says,  "  We 
give  thanks  to  God  who  comprehended  our  beloved  prince 
in  the  benefit  and  influence  of  the  death  and  resurrection 
Vol.  II.— E 


50  PROGRESS    OF 

of  Christ.  You  know  what  risk,  even  of  life  itself,  he  en- 
coantered  at  Augsburg.  But  I  will  not  commend  him  for 
his  virtues,  though  they  were  great :  I  acknowledge  that 
he  was  a  sinner,  and  needed  the  remission  of  sins.  I  do 
not  therefore  set  him  forth  as  perfect.  Yet  was  he  an  ex- 
cellent and  most  kind  man,  free  from  all  guile,  and  one  in 
whom  I  could  never  trace  pride,  anger,  or  envy.  He  was 
ready  to  forgive ;  nay,  mild  and  gentle  even  to  excess.  If 
he  sometimes  erred  in  his  government,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at ;  for  princes  are  but  men,  and  we  may  say 
that  ten  devils  beset  them  for  one  that  assaults  a  private 
person." 

Happily,  the  reformation  lost  no  ground  by  the  death  of 
John.  *'  The  new  elector,  no  less  attached  than  his"  father 
"to  the  opinions  of  Luther,  occupied  the  station  which  he  had 
held  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant  party,  and  defended,  with 
the  boldness  and  zeal  of  youth,  that  cause  which"  John 
"  had  fostered  and  supported  with  the  caution  of  more  ad- 
vanced age."*  John  Frederic  has  already  appeared  in  this 
history,  acting  almost  as  the  associate  of  his  father  in  all  his 
important  affairs,  and  displaying  the  tirmness  and  piety 
which  never  forsook  him  in  the  trying  circumstances  through 
which  he  was  afterward  called  to  pass. 

We  may  avail  ourselves  of  this  period  of  comparative 
repose  to  the  German  church,  to  glance  at  the  progress 
which  the  reformation  was  making  more  generally.  Many 
such  accounts  might  be  collected  as  are  given  in  the  former 
volume, t  but  as  they  would  for  the  most  part  want  that  de- 
gree of  particularity  which  might  make  them  interesting, 
it  may  suflice  to  say  that  the  reformation  was  continually 
spreading  and  advancing  itself  in  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  other  parts  of  the  Continent.  About  this  time  also  ap- 
peared Tindal's  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English  ;  and 
our  own  country  was  casting  off  the  papal  yoke.  Here 
likewise,  and  in  France,t  Belgium,  the  domuiions  of  Duke 

*  Robertson.  t  Vol.  i.  p.  177,  199,  274,  &c. 

t  At  Limoges  one  John  Cadiircus  (Du  Qiiercy),  a  licentiate  in  law, 
having  been  condemned  to  tlie  stake,  the  monk  who  had  been  appointed 
to  preach,  as  was  customary  on  such  occasions,  gave  ont  for  his  text, 
1  Tim.  iv.  1,  "  In  the  latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  sjiirits,  and  doctrinesof  devils."  Cadurcus,on  hearing 
this,  cried  out,  "  Go  on  to  the  next  words— the  words  immediately  follow- 


THE    REFORBIATION.  51 

George  of  Saxony,  and  in  other  places,  many  now  suffered 
for  the  truth  ;  while  to  others  of  their  brethren  their  suffer- 
ings furnished  illustrious  opportunities  of  exercising  their 
Christian  charity.  This  was  particularly  the  case  at  Stras- 
burg.  The  Duke  of  Lorrain  had  proscribed  several  thou- 
sands of  his  subjects,  at  a  time  of  great  scarcity,  and  they 
were  in  consequence  compelled,  in  their  wanderings,  to 
subsist  on  such  fruits  and  herbs  as  grew  wild  in  the  fields. 
The  divines  of  Strasburg  took  compassion  on  these  poor 
people,  and  successfully  importuned  the  senate  to  receive 
them  into  the  city,  and  support  them  till  they  could  be  other- 
wise disposed  of. 

The  name  of  Wolfgang,  Prince  of  Anhalt,  as  a  supporter 
of  the  Protestant  cause,  has  already  occun-ed.  The  accounts 
of  him  and  of  the  associate  princes,  his  cousins,  John, 
George,  and  Joachim,  are  highly  satisfactory.  Wolfgang 
had  visited  the  Saxon  court  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  Luther's  proceedings ;  and,  being  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  his  doctrines,  had  invited  him  to  preach  them  at 
Zerbst,  in  1522.  He  was  one  of  those  who  subscribed  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg.  George  was  an  ecclesiastic  of 
exalted  and  most  exemplary  character,  who  will  deserve  a 
particular  notice  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  history.  He 
earnestly  recommended  to  his  brothers,  John  and  Joachim, 
that,  "  abandoning  the  figments  of  men,  they  should  delight 
themselves  in  the  Word  of  God  alone."  By  his  advice, 
they  sent  to  Wittemberg  for  a  faithful  Protestant  minister 
to  be  settled  at  Dessau.  Hausman,  who  had  been  removed 
from  Zwickau  in  a  manner  by  no  means  creditable  to  the 
senate  and  people  of  that  place,  was  the  person  recom- 
mended to  him. 

Among  the  accessions  to  the  Protestant  cause,  we  have 
also  to  reckon  Joachim,  son  and  successor  of  the  Elector 
of  Brandenburg.  He  began  about  this  time  to  manifest  his 
attachment  to  Luther  and  the  reformation.  But  to  him 
also  our  attention  will  be  more  particularly  called  at  a  future 

ingi"  On  which  the  monk  stood  confounded,  and  the  condemned  man 
proceeded,  "If  you  do  not  goon,  I  vi-ill :  it  follows— '  Speaking  lies  in 
hypocrisy ;  having  their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron  ;  forbidding 
to  marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats  ;' "  and  he  then  en- 
larsied  on  the  words  to  the  assembled  multitude,  applying  them  to  the 
•Well  known  itnpositions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  afterward  suf 
fered  death  with  consiSincy.—ScuUetus. 


52  WRITINGS    OF    LUTHER. 

period.  Philip  Marquis  of  Baden  presented  an  opposite 
example.  After  having  encouraged  the  preaching  of  the 
reformed  doctrine,  he  this  year  turned  back  to  popery,  and 
expelled  the  Protestant  ministers  from  his  dominions. 

The  following  anecdote,  in  which  Ferdinand,  the  em- 
peror's brother,  is  concerned,  may  not  be  unworthy  of  inser- 
tion. Having  been  about  this  time  unfortunate  in  his  oper- 
ations against  the  Turks,  he  is  reported  to  have  said  to  his 
counsellors,  "  I  wonder  how  it  is  that  all  my  undertakings 
fail."  One  of  them,  an  Austrian  by  birth,  replied,  "  That 
happens  to  you,  sir,  which  has  ever  happened  to  kings  and 
emperors :  those  who  shed  human  blood,  and  connive  at 
sin,  have  always  enemies  raised  up  to  them  by  the  Divino 
judgment,  such  as  they  cannot  resist.  Expect,  therefore, 
no  better  success,  till  you  desist  from  your  opposition  to 
religion."  Thus,  even  in  the  councils  of  the  royal  and 
imperial  supporters  of  the  papal  tyranny,  there  were  not 
wanting  persons  to  raise  their  voice  in  behalf  of  God  and 
his  truth. 

This  year  (1532)  I  find  the  following  mention  of  two 
eminent  men.  "  In  France  three  distinct  fountains  were 
opened  from  which  the  blessed  waters  of  the  heavenly  doc- 
trine might  be  drawn,  namely,  at  Toulouse,  Orleans,  and 
Bourges. — At  the  first  of  these  places  Jw/ms  Caesar  Scaliger 
caused  Christ  to  be  known  :  and  not  only  the  city  of  Agen, 
where  he  resided,  but  a  great  part  of  Guienne  and  Gascony 
owed  to  him  the  restoration  of  true  religion,  through  the 
means  of  pious  men  who  resorted  to  his  house."  Again, 
"  At  Orleans  and  Bourges  some  had  already  tasted  of  the 
heavenly  doctrine ;  but  John  Calvin^  having  come,  at 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  to  study  the  law  at  these  places, 
under  Peter  de  Stella  (de  I'Etoile)  and  Andrew  Alciat,  and 
combining  with  this  study  the  pursuit  of  Divine  knowledge, 
the  minds  of  many  were  by  his  means  confirmed  and 
excited."*  He  studied  Greek  also  at  Bourges  under  Mel- 
chior  Wolraar,  who  was  secretly  a  Lutheran. 

We  will  close  the  present  chapter  with  some  notice  of  the 
writings  of  Luther  about  this  period. 

In  the  year  1531  he  published  nothing  of  consequence  in 

*  Beza  and  Scultet. 


WRITINGS    OF    LUTHER  53 

addition  to  the  works  which  have  been  already  mentioned. 
He  was  much  occupied  in  preaching  at  Wittemberg,  in  the 
absence  of  Bugenhagen,  who  had  gone,  by  invitation,  to 
Lubeck,  to  establish  a  reformed  ministry  in  that  place. 
The  next  year  he  printed  various  expositions,  sermons,  and 
other  minor  pieces,  which  would  be  very  edifying  to  the 
churches,  but  need  not  be  particularly  specified  in  this  place. 
Some  brief  quotations,  however,  may  be  given. 

Let  the  following  passages  on  the  evidences  of  a  state 
of  grace  be  combined  with  the  writer's  well  known  and 
constant  assertion  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  b}^  faith 
only. — In  his  lectures  on  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he 
says,  "  Our  forgiving  our  neighbour  is  an  external  proof 
that  we  are  ourselves  forgiven  by  God.  Where  there  is  not 
this  proof,  I  cannot  be  certain  of  the  internal  blessing  of 
justification  ;  rather,  I  deceive  myself  and  others.  But 
if  I  find  tliat  I  truly  forgive  my  neighbour,  then  I  ma}"-  con- 
clude thus  :  '  This  proceeds  not  from  m.yself ;  I  perceive 
that  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  a  new  man.'"  Again,  in 
his  discourses  on  the  Christian  armour  (Ephes.  vi.),  speak- 
ing of  "  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,"  which  it  appears 
he  understood  to  mean  a  holy  walk  and  conversation,  he 
says,  "  When  I  live  a  holy  life  before  men,  and  can  repel 
all  charges  against  me,  I  become  certain  of  my  faith ;  as 
the  tree  is  proved  to  be  good  by  good  fruit ;  and  thus  faith 
increases  and  is  confirmed.  But  this  is  not  the  case  with 
those  who  live  in  sin ;  for  thus  faith  is  staggered,  and  the 
mind  rendered  incapable  of  the  confidence  and  consolation 
that  God  is  pacified  towards  it,  and  forgives  those  sins  in 
which  it  still  continues." 

Speaking  of  the  advent  of  Christ,  he  says,  "  0  God,  were 
not  that  day  to  be  looked  for,  I  would  rather  never  have  been 
born  !  See  what  is  the  existing  state  of  things,  and  how 
the  gospel  is  treated  in  the  world  ;  what  persecutions, 
calumnies,  hatred,  and  contempt !  And  then,  among  our- 
selves, how  many  fiilse  and  deceitful,  wayward  and  wicked  ! 
....  These  things  wound  and  wear  down  the  hearts  of  Chris- 
tians. Why  then  do  we  not  cry  to  God  to  terminate  the 
present  state  of  things  ?  We  should  be  most  miserable, 
could  we  not  hope  for  deliverance." 

In  discoursing  on  the  second  Psalm,  he  thus  notices  what 
^  had  himself  witnessed  :  "  In  our  time,  the  success  of  tlie 
E2 


54  WRITINGS    OF    LUTHER. 

gospel  was  at  first  great,  and  all  hoped,  as  the  apostles  did, 
before  they  were  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
nature  of  his  kingdom,  that  our  doctrine  would  introduce 
public  liberty  and  tranquillity ;  but  when  disturbances  arose, 
and  the  true  character  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  was  dis- 
cerned, with  the  infirmities  of  good  men,  and  the  like  ;  then 
many  drew  back,  and  began  to  hate  the  gospel.  What  was 
the  cause  of  all  this,  but  ignorance  of  the  nature  and  con- 
ditions of  the  kingdom  of  Christ — which  is  of  that  kind, 
that  it  is  everywhere  exposed  to  the  opposition  of  the  world 
and  of  Satan.  They  who  arc  not  aware  of  this  will  fail 
when  dangers  arise,  and  will  condemn  the  gospel  as  a 
seditious  doctrine." 

He  elsewhere  complains  of  the  conceit  and  arrogance 
both  of  the  nobles  and  the  common  people  ;  "  that  they 
thought  they  understood  the  gospel  not  only  better  than  he 
did,  but  better  than  even  S.  Paul  himself;  and  were  wiser 
in  their  own  eyes  than  all  their  pastors  :"  whence  he  antici- 
pated approaching  calamity. 

In  a  sermon  on  "  God  is  love,"  we  find  the  following 
painftil  acknowledgment :  "  I  confess,  and  others  join  me  in 
the  confession,  that  there  is  not  now  the  same  diligence  and 
zeal  as  under  the  papacy.  There  is  not  the  same  fervency 
under  the  gospel  as  was  seen  in  the  time  of  the  priests  and 
monks,  when  so  many  foundations  were  formed,  so  many 
buildings  raised  ;  when  no  one  was  so  poor  as  not  to  con- 
tribute something.  Now,  a  whole  city  can  scarcely  support 
a  single  preacher.  All  grasp  and  seize  for  themselves,  and 
will  not  endure  a  reprover.  Whence  arises  this  scandalous 
evil  ?  '  From  your  doctrine,'  cry  our  adversaries,  with  the 
lungs  of  Stentor — '  because  men  are  taught  that  they  must 
not  trust  in  their  good  works.'  But  it  is  the  devil  who 
imputes  to  a  pious  and  salutary  doctrine  what  arises  from 
himself,  and  from  wicked  men  abusing  that  doctrine." 

Luther  no  doubt  here  paints  strongly,  aiming  to  produce 
a  conduct  contrary  to  that  of  which  he  complains.  At  the 
same  time,  numbers,  released  from  the  obligations  which 
had  extorted  certain  services  from  them  under  the  old  regi- 
men, and  continuing  strangers  to  any  new  and  better  prin- 
ciple, would  "  abuse  liberty  for  an  occasion  to  the  flesh." 
Yet  let  the  reader  compare  the  account  given  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  of  Saxony,  as  contrasted  with  the  surround- 


WRITINGS    OF    LUTHER.  55 

ing  countries,  and  he  will  see  that  Luther  was  as  far  from 
conceding  that  Protestantism  must  yield  to  popery  in  its 
power  of  producing  good  works,  as  we  are  at  this  day  from 
granting  that  those  who  renounce  all  confidence  in  their 
own  righteousness  fall  short,  in  moral  virtue  and  useful- 
ness of  life,  of  those  who  trust  in  what  they  do. 

We  may  confirm  this  statement  by  the  following  extract 
from  an  address  of  the  Protestants  to  Granvelle,  the  em- 
peror's chief  minister,  in  the  year  1540.  "  It  would  really 
be  very  acceptable  in  us,  if  the  emperor  would  examine  the 
whole  matter,  and  diligently  inquire  where  it  is  that  the 
ministers  of  the  church  are  most  civilly  and  kindly  used, 
schools  best  ordered,  the  functions  and  ministry  of  the 
church  most  decently  performed  ;  whether  in  our  territories 
or  among  our  adversaries.  If  the  emperor  would  give 
himself  this  trouble,  we  need  not  make  any  apology  to  jus- 
tify and  defend  the  matter  of  fact,  respecting  the  application 
of  the  ecclesiastical  funds  ;  for  the  thing  itself  would  speak 
in  our  behalf,  and  move  him  to  set  about  a  true  reformation 
of  the  church." 

His  sentiments  concerning  pastoral  authority,  and  the 
right  of  setting  up  for  religious  teachers,  will  hardly  suit  an 
age  of  relaxed  or  almost  abrogated  discipline.  He  approved 
of  specially  opposing  to  the  anabaptists,  who  privily  crept 
in  and  injured  the  people,  their  entire  want  of  authority  to 
exercise  the  office  of  teachers.  "  Who  called  them,"  he 
asks,  "  to  come  in,  and  unsettle  the  minds  of  the  peasants, 
and  to  withdraw  men  from  their  proper  pastors  1  Why  do 
they  not  ask  leave  of  the  pastors  to  address  their  people  1  If 
that  is  refused,  they  have  discharged  their  consciences.  Let 
them  either  show  their  letters  of  human  commission,  or 
give  proofs  of  a  divine  one,  by  working  miracles."  He 
would  have  the  people  instructed  concerning  the  necessity 
and  the  proofs  of  a  call  to  exercise  the  office  of  teachers. 
"  The  difficulty,"  he  observes,  "  is  sufficiently  great  for  them 
that  are  duly  called,  to  set  forth  the  true  doctrine  :  what  is 
to  be  hoped  for  from  those  who  are  not  called  ]  I  would  not 
for  all  the  world  want  my  proper  vocation  as  a  teacher. 
Without  it,  I  should  despair  under  the  burdens  which  press 
upon  me.  But  now  God  and  all  the  world  are  witnesses, 
that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  have  publicly  discharged  the 
duties  which  my  office  as  a  teachei  and  preacher  requires  of 


56         PROPOSALS  FOR  A  COUNCIL. 

me."  Some  of  these  sentiments  will  not  obtain,  perhaps 
&re  not  fully  entitled  to,  universal  concurrence  :  yet  they 
deserve  to  be  considered.  They  may  tend  to  check  the 
rashness  of  some  who  boldly  "  rush,"  where  wiser  and 
holier  men  "  fear  to  tread  ;"  and  to  impress  on  others  more 
serious  sentiments  than  they  have  been  used  to  entertain, 
on  the  subject  of  undertaking  to  instruct  men  in  "  things 
pertaining  to  God."  And,  whatever  may  be  determined 
concerning  those  who  have  the  authority  of  sending  forth 
teachers,  surely  no  sober  mind  will  think  that  a  man's  own 
forwardness  to  assume  the  office  is  his  sufficient  warrant. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Erasmus  on  Concord  in  the  Church — Persecutions — Reform- 
alien  extended — Anabaptists  of  Munster — Henry  VIII. 
and  Francis  I. — Popc''s  Commission  for  Reformation — 
Roman  Catholic  League — Convention  of  Frankfort. 

Fruitless  negotiations  for  the  convocation  of  a  general 
council,  and  artful  intrigues  to  avoid  it,  occupied  several 
years  which  follow.  The  details  would  be  wholly  unin- 
teresting, and  they  may  be  almost  passed  over  in  silence. 
Clement  VII.,  while  he  professed  his  desire  of  a  council, 
persevered  to  the  end  of  his  life  in  propositions  which  he 
knew  would  delay,  if  not  finally  prevent  it.  His  death  took 
place  in  the  year  1531.  His  successor,  Paul  III.  (of  the 
house  of  Farnese),  though,  having  witnessed  "  the  universal 
censure  which  Clement  had  incurred  by  his  obstinacy,  he 
hoped  to  avoid  the  same  reproach  by  the  seeming  alacrity 
with  which  he  proposed  a  council,  yet  flattered  himself  that 
such  difficulties  would  arise  concerning  the  time  and  place 
of  meeting,  the  persons  who  had  a  right  to  be  present,  and 
the  order  of  their  proceedings,  as  would  effectually  defeat 
the  intention  of  those  who  demanded  it."**" 

Soon  after  the  pacification  of  Nuremberg,  while  public 

*  Robertson. 


ERASMUS    ON    CONCORD.  57 

expectation  was  pretty  strongly  directed  to  this  object, 
Erasmus  again  rendered  himself  conspicuous  in  the  afiairs 
of  the  church.  In  a  commentary  on  the  eighty-fourth  Psalm, 
he  published  his- thoughts  on  Concord  in  Religion.  His 
performance  appears  to  be  precisely  one  of  those  works 
which  from  time  to  time  come  forth  in  periods  of  conflict, 
and  which,  assuming  to  occupy  the  high  ground  of  impartial 
decision  between  contending  parties,  really  do  great  injus- 
tice to  one  or  the  other  of  them,  and  commonly  to  that 
which  is  esteemed  the  weaker  and  more  obnoxious.  Works 
of  this  kind  often  proceed  either  from  men  of  ambitious 
policy,  who  seek  to  commend  themselves  to  such  as  are 
able  to  advance  them,  and  are  at  the  same  time  persons  of 
professed,  perhaps  of  real,  moderation  ;  or  from  men  who, 
attempting  little  themselves,  affect  the  praise  of  superior 
wisdom  by  censuring  those  who  are  doing  great  practical 
good,  though  not  without  that  mixture  of  error  and  infirm- 
ity which  is  incident  to  human  nature.  Such  men  often 
avail  themselves  of  the  important  truths  which  the  very 
objects  of  their  censure  have  brought  into  public  notice,  pro- 
pound them  as  their  own,  and  are  severe  on  the  extrava- 
gances with  which,  as  they  pretend,  the  others  have  de- 
formed and  oppressed  them. 

In  the  part  of  his  work  with  which  we  are  concerned, 
after  some  general  advice,  very  good  indeed,  but  yet  very 
bootless — such  as,  that  all  orders  of  men,  popes,  princes, 
magistrates,  monks,  priests,  people,  should  aim  to  become 
what  they  ought  to  be,  and  to  discharge  their  several  duties 
in  an  exemplary  manner — Erasmus  comes  to  some  particu- 
lar points  of  doctrine.  On  these,  many  of  his  statements 
are,  abstractedly  considered,  sound  and  good  ;  yet  as  pro- 
posed by  him  they  are  injurious,  because  they  imply  that 
Luther  and  his  friends  had  deviated  widely  from  them  ; 
whereas  it  might,  with  much  appearance  of  truth  be 
affirmed  that  Erasmus  himself  had  learned  them  from 
Luther.  At  least  it  is  probable  Erasmus  would  never  have 
written  or  thought  as  he  here  does,  had  it  not  been  for 
Luther  :  and  his  positions,  advanced  in  the  manner  that  many 
of  them  are,  are  proofs  of  the  extent  to  which  Luther  had 
prevailed  in  his  attacks  upon  long-established  error.  Secken- 
dorf  remarks,  that  many  of  his  sentiments  "  might  have 
been  expressed,  and  nearly  in  the  same  words,  from  Luther 


58  ERASMUS    ON 

himself;  while  the  sentences  which  Erasmus  selected  for 
censure  were  not  Luther's,  but  were  calumniously  imputed 
to  him." 

Passing  to  another  class  of  topics,  Erasmus  thinks  it 
*'  pious  to  believe  that  the  prayers  and  good  works  of  the 
living  profit  the  dead,  especially  if  they  had  made  provision 
for  these  services  in  their  lifetime.  But  let  not  those,"  he 
says,  "  who  cannot  believe  this  rave  against  the  simplicity 
of  others,  but  only  be  the  more  zealous  of  good  works 
themselves."  In  like  manner,  of  the  invocation  of  the 
saints  he  argues,  that  "  those  persons  must  still  be  sup- 
posed to  retain  power  with  God  after  death,  at  whose 
instance,  and  through  whose  instrumentality,  he  wrought 
miracles  while  they  lived."  "  Superstition,  indeed,  is  to 
be  reproved,  but  simple  aiTcction  or  regard  of  this  kind  is  to 
be  borne  with,  even  though  it  be  joined  with  some  degree  of 
error." — Thus  does  he  palliate  dominant  evils,  which  he 
cannot  defend,  and  call  that  simpUcihj  and  pious  affection 
which  he  cannot  but  feel  to  be  superstitious  and  dangerous, 
if  not  even  absolutely  idolatrous  :  and  thus  does  he,  in 
effect,  become  the  apologist  of  those  who  were  the  bitter 
enemies  of  all  real  reformation.  And  while  he  softens 
down  and  puts  a  fovourable  construction  on  the  gross 
errors  and  corrupt  practices  of  the  ruling  party,  he  applies 
harsh  terms  to  the  opposition  made  to  those  corruptions  and 
errors  by  the  other  side.  "  Let  them  not  rave  against  the 
simplicity  of  others."  "  Let  them  worship  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  themselves,  and  not  with  disgust- 
ing officiousness  disturb  those  who,  without  superstition, 
implore  the  intercession  of  the  saints."  Such  are  the  terms 
applied  to  the  only  men  who  were  likely  to  correct  the  pre- 
vailing evils. 

Again,  with  regard  to  image-worship,  he  says,  "  The 
zeal  of  those  who  rage  against  images  is  not,  in  my  opinion, 
altogether  without  reason,  though  it  is  excessive  :  for  idol- 
atry, or  the  worship  of  images,  of  which  there  is  still 
danger,  is  a  horrible  crime."  Yet  he  talks  of  pictures  and 
statues  as  being  "  a  more  vivid  kind  of  poetry  ;"  "  and,  as 
Plato  would  not  banish  all  poetry  from  his  republic,  but 
only  that  which  conveyed  unworthy  notions  of  the  gods, 
go,"  he  says,  "  whatever  superstition  has  crept  in  by 
means  of  images  ought  to  be  corrected,  and  yet  their  proper 


CONCORD.  59 

use  preserved.  Let  those,  therefore,  who  think  that  no 
honour  is  to  be  paid  to  the  images  of  the  saints,  enjoy  their 
own  opinion,  but  let  them  not  rail  at  others  who,  without 
superstition,  so  venerate  images,  from  love  to  the  characters 
represented  by  them,  as  a  wife  may  kiss  the  ring  or  the 
girdle  of  her  absent  husband  !"  What  principle  is  there  so 
sacred,  that  may  not  be  compromised  and  frittered  away  by 
fallacious  representations  like  these  ?  Justly  indeed  does 
Jortin  remark,  that,  if  none  had  arisen  to  do  more  than 
Erasmus  would  have  done,  we  might  have  been  involved  in 
all  the  delusion  and  superstition  of  popery  to  this  day. 

In  like  manner,  with  respect  to  the  veneration  of  relics, 
he  thinks  "  Paul  would  have  allowed  every  man  his  own 
opinion  on  such  subjects."  Preposterous  as  the  sentiment 
is,  was  such  the  plan  of  the  Romish  Church,  to  allow  men 
their  own  opinion  on  any  subject '? 

Having  treated  some  other  topics  in  a  similar  manner, 
passing  over  however  several  questions  of  great  importance, 
he  concludes  with  a  flattering  encomium  of  the  moderation 
and  conciliatory  mind  of  the  emperor,  of  Ferdinand,  of  the 
kings  of  France  and  England,  and  of  the  pope  ;  and  says 
all  would  be  well,  if  "  other  princes  and  states"  would 
direct  their  attention  a  right  way.  Thus  he  insinuates  that 
the  real  obstacles  to  peace  were  on  the  side  of  the  Protest- 
ants :  whereas  their  opponents,  though  they  might  be  glad 
to  avail  themselves  of  Erasmus's  name  in  the  controversy, 
would  no  more  have  admitted  of  his  modifications  than  of 
their  changes. 

The  divines  of  Strasburg  appear  to  have  received  this 
work  of  Erasmus  with  more  favour  than  it  deserved  ;  for 
they  translated  it  into  German,  and  dispersed  it  pretty 
widely.  This  drew  from  Musculus,  formerly  of  their  city 
but  now  of  Augsburg,  an  expostulation  in  a  letter  to  Bucer. 
"  I  fear,"  he  says,  "  lest,  through  an  excessive  and  morbid 
desire  of  concord,  you  should  tamper  with  the  truth  that 
has  been  taught  anil  acknowledged  among  you  :  which  God 
prevent !"  "  We  know  with  whom  we  have  to  enter  into 
concord  ;  men  who  have  not  repented  of  their  abominable 
doctrine  and  manner  of  life,  so  as  to  depart  from  it  even  a 
hair's  breadth.  Accursed  be  that  concord  which  cannot  be 
established  but  at  the  expense  of  truth  and  of  Christ's 
kingdom  !"     "  Erasmus,"  he  observes,  "  bends  all  his  force 


60  ERASMUS    ON    CONCORD. 

to  show  that  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  the  unity  of  the 
church."  This,  as  appUed  to  an  external  church,  Musculus 
reprobates  ;  and  admits  it  only  of  the  spiritual  church,  or 
body  of  Christ,  of  which  we  are  constituted  members  by  a 
lively  faith. 

Corvinus,  also,  a  Hessian  divine,  wrote  an  answer  to 
Erasmus's  treatise,  which  Luther  highly  commended  in  a 
preface.  Luther  here  speaks  charitably  of  Erasmus,  and 
allows  that  he  and  his  followers  meant  well ;  but  the  terms 
of  agreement  which  they  proposed  could  not,  he  said,  be 
admitted  with  a  safe  conscience.  He  contrasts  the  conduct 
of  himself  and  his  friends  with  that  of  their  opponents. 
"  We  have  always  been  ready  to  yield  and  to  sutfer  what- 
ever could  be  granted  or  endured  without  violating  our 
faith.  Never  have  we  thirsted  after  their  blood,  much  less 
shed  it.  We  have  strenuously  supported  them  against  the 
seditious  and  fanatical  spirits ;  on  which  account  those 
furious  persons  abhor  the  Lutherans  more  than  they  do  the 
papists  ;  while  the  latter  cease  not  to  shed  our  blood,  and  to 
pursue  us  with  fire  and  sword,  and  every  species  of  cruelty." 
"The  union  of  charity,"  he  says,  "we  have  sought  with 
our  whole  souls ;  but  the  union  of  faith  or  doctrine 
between  us  is  in  vain  sought  by  Erasmus  through  the 
medium  of  mutual  concession  ;  for,  so  far  from  conceding 
any  thing  whatever,  our  adversaries  have  even  exacted 
things  which,  before  Luther  arose,  they  had  themselves  con- 
demned. Their  whole  cry  is,  '  The  church,  the  church  ;' 
and  they  give  that  name  to  impious  men,  who  presume  to 
think  and  determine  above  the  Scriptures,  and  contrary  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  that  (as  they  pretend)  by  Divine  author- 
ity !  And  Erasmus  confirms  their  error,  by  everywhere 
promising  to  follow  the  church,  and  considering  every  thing 
as  doubtful  and  undetermined  till  the  church  has  decided 
it.  If  this  be  right,  we  have  only  to  say,  '  I  believe  that 
the  papists  are  the  church,  and  that  whatever  they  determine 
is  the  truth  ;'  and  thus  we  shall  all  be  safe  !" 

As  this  is  the  last  time  that  our  attention  will  be  directly 
called  to  Erasmus,  we  may  here  state,  that  he  died  three 
years  afterward,  in  July,  1536,  at  Basle,  aged  about  seventy 
years;  having  exhibited,  says  Seckendorf,  "many  indica- 
tions of  piety  near  the  end  of  his  life."  On  his  death-bed, 
he  made  honourable  mention  of  BuHinger,  the  reformer,  and 


PERSECUTIONS,  61 

received  with  kindness  Conrad  Pellican  of  Zuric,  with  whom 
he  had  previously  had  sharp  contentions  ;  and  he  asked  Pel- 
hcan's  forgiveness  of  any  offence  he  might  have  given  him. 

The  persecutions  of  the  duke  George  of  Saxony  at  this 
time  were  severe  and  extensive.  He  banished  nearly  eight 
hundred  inhabitants  of  Leipzig,  on  account  of  their  attach- 
ment to  the  doctrines  of  Luther.  Still  greater  severities 
were  exercised  in  Misnia  against  such  as  presumed  to  eat 
forbidden  meats,  to  frequent  any  other  than  their  parish 
churches,  or  to  receive  the  sacrament  otherwise  than  the 
papal  ritual  prescribed.  Priests  guilty  of  such  offences  '7ere 
subjected  to  torture  :  others  were  sentenced  to  perpetual 
imprisonment,  or  died  of  want,  or  from  the  stench  of  the 
places  in  which  they  were  confined :  and  these  were  buried 
by  the  hangman,  or  other  base  officer,  in  waste  ground  where 
the  dead  bodies  of  unclean  animals  were  cast.  Some  were 
sent  into  exile,  with  merely  a  cloth  thrown  over  them, 
having  in  it  a  rent,  through  which  their  heads  were  passed  : 
"and  this,"  says  the  narrator,*  "I  myself  have  seen  at 
Dresden." 

Yet  all  George's  severities  could  not  prevent  the  progress 
of  Protestant  principles,  even  among  his  ministers  and  his 
own  near  relatives.  On  these  grounds  Anthony  a  Schon- 
berg,  a  man  of  higli  family,  and  brother  to  a  cardinal,  forfeited 
the  duke's  favour,  and  incurred  persecution  from  him. 
Others  of  the  same  family  manifested  similar  sentiments, 
particularly  Ernest,  who  had  commanded  the  duke's  troops  in 
the  rustic  war,  and  had  himself  been  very  tenacious  of  the 
established  rites.  When  death  approached,  he  wrote  to 
George,  requesting  that  he  would  permit  him  *'  to  receive 
Christ's  testament  as  Christ  had  himself  appointed,  namely, 
entire  in  both  its  parts  ;"  and,  not  being  able  to  prevail  for 
such  indulgence,  he  made  application  to  the  elector,  to  send 
him  a  pious  and  learned  minister  to  instruct  him,  and  admin- 
ister the  sacrament  to  him.  This  was  accordingly  done — 
George's  daughter-in-law  also,  Elizabeth,  sister  to  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  conceived  such  scruples  as  made  her  refuse 
to  receive  the  sacrament  according  to  the  papal  usage. 

Indeed,  the  extension  of  the  reformation  at  this  period  was 

*  Fabrlcius,  Orig.  Sax. 
Vol.  it— F 


62  REFORMATION   EXTENDED CLEVES. 

rapid.  "  The  religious  truce  concluded  at  Nuremberg," 
says  Mosheim,  "  inspired  with  new  vigour  and  resolution  the 
friends  of  the  reformation.  It  gave  strength  to  the  feeble, 
and  perseverance  to  the  bold.  Encouraged  by  it,  those  who 
had  hitherto  been  only  secret  enemies  to  the  Roman  pontiff 
spurned  now  his  yoke  publicly,  and  refused  to  submit  to  his 
imperious  jurisdiction.  This  appears  from  the  various  cities 
and  provinces  in  Germany  which  about  this  time  boldly 
enlisted  themselves  under  the  standard  of  Luther." 

The  Elector  of  Saxony,  at  the  instance  of  the  states  under 
his  jurisdiction,  early  availed  himself  of  the  coniidence 
inspired  by  the  pacification,  to  complete  that  ecclesiastical 
visitation  of  his  dominions,  by  commissioners,  partly  lay  and 
partly  clerical,  which  had  been  begun  some  years  before,* 
but  never  finished.  This  appears  to  have  been  very  con- 
ducive to  the  interests  of  religion,  by  the  removal  of  scandalous 
priests,  the  rooting  out  of  the  remains  of  superstition,  the 
promoting,  of  sound  instruction,  both  among  youth  and 
persons  of  mature  age,  the  making  provision  for  the  preser- 
vation of  ecclesiastical  edifices,  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  clergy.  On  this  occasion  also  the  reformation  was  first 
extended  to  the  seventy  parishes  of  Swartzburg  in  Thu- 
ringia,  and  to  some  places  not  immediately  under  the  elector's 
authority,  particularly  in  Yoightland  in  Misnia. 

Three  years  afterward,  the  same  pious  prince  materially 
augmented  the  endowment  of  the  university  of  Wittemberg ; 
on  which  occasion  he  thankfully  acknowledges  what  God 
had  wrought  by  means  of  that  institution,  and  especially 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Luther  and  Melancthon — 
•'  making  manifest,"  he  says,  "  the  true  and  Christian  under- 
standing of  his  Word,  to  the  comfort  and  salvation  of  all 
men." 

In  the  year  1533  a  movement  took  place  in  the  duchy  of 
Cleves,  in  Westphalia,  from  which  more,  perhaps,  might  at 
first  have  been  expected  than  actually  followed.  The  Duke 
John  (father  of  Sibylla,  wife  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  of 
Ann,  afterward  married  to  Henry  VIII.  of  England)  issued 
a  long  edict,  containing  very  particular  directions  for  the 
reformation  of  the  church  in  his  dominions.  Many  of  these 
regulations  were  excellent ;  yet  many  of  the  superstitious 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  327. 


ITALY.  63 

usages  of  popery  were  retained  with  them  ;  very  much 
according  to  the  principles  of  Erasmus  :  and  its  failure  of 
practical  elfect  was  a  specimen  of  what  was  likely  to  be  the 
result  of  Erasmus's  compromising  schemes. 

The  rays  of  evangelical  truth,  it  appears,  had  also  pene- 
trated into  Italy,  and  even  to  the  very  heart  of  the  papal 
dominions  ;  and  we  find  at  this  time  a  remarkable  address  in 
favour  of  reformation,  made  by  some  distinguished  citizens 
of  Bologna  to  John  Planitz,  the  elector's  ambassador  at  the 
court  of  the  emperor,  then  held  in  that  city.  The  design  of 
the  address  was,  to  entreat  Planitz  most  seriously  to  urge 
the  emperor  to  procure  a  council,  which  the  authors  of  the 
address  hoped  might  lead  to  some  reformation  in  religion — 
an  object,  they  say,  "  most  earnestly  desired  by  many  pious, 
learned,  and  honourable  persons  in  the  first  cities  of  Italy, 
and  even  in  Rome  itself."  They  spoke  for  themselves  in 
the  most  unequivocal  and,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  most 
humble  language.  They  congratulated  the  deliverance  of 
Saxony  from  the  tyranny  of  antichristian  superstition,  and 
applauded  the  elector's  zeal  for  extending  the  like  liberty  of 
the  gospel  to  other  countries.  They  trusted  that,  at  all 
events,  the  pope  would  be  so  far  prevailed  upon,  that  it 
might  no  longer  be  esteemed  heretical  for  either  priests  or 
laymen  to  purchase  the  Scriptures,  or  a  proof  of  Luther- 
anism  to  quote  sometimes  the  words  of  Christ  or  of  S.  Paul. 
This,  they  say,  "  is  at  present  the  case  :  and  what  is  the 
reign  of  Antichrist,  if  this  is  not  1"  They  entreat  the 
ambassador  "  to  leave  no  means  untried,  that  his  mission  into 
Italy  might  prove  not  to  have  been  in  vain,  and  that  their 
hopes  might  not  issue  in  disappointment.  For  their  own 
part,  they  promise  to  contribute  their  utmost  endeavours, 
even  though  they  should  sacrifice  their  fortunes  and  their 
lives  in  the  cause  of  Christ." 

To  read  such  a  document  as  this,  proceeding  from  Italy 
three  hundred  years  ago,  and  to  reflect  that  all  these  hopes 
and  earnest  desires  were  disappointed,  the  spark  thus  kindled 
extinguished,  and  the  dawning  light  lost  in  deep  and  perma- 
nent darkness,  which  endures  to  this  day  ;  and  then  to  com- 
pare the  lot  of  some  other  countries,  and  particularly  of  our 
own  highly  favoured  land — must  be  deeply  affecting  to  every 
pious  mind.  Why  has  such  mercy  been  extended  to  us, 
while  it  was  withheld  from  other  people,  though  it  appears 


64  WURTEMBERG POMERANIA.. 

that  among  them  were  persons  ready  to  make  the  most  costly 
sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  it  ?  *'  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it 
seemed  wood  in  thy  sight  !"* 

Another  event  which  very  considerably  strengthened  the 
cause  of  the  reformation  in  Germany,  about  this  time,  was 
the  restoration  of  Ulric  Duke  of  Wiirtembergtohis  domin- 
ions. He  had  been  expelled  in  the  year  1519,  on  account 
of  his  violent  and  oppressive  administration,  and  the  house 
of  Austria  had  taken  possession  of  his  duchy.  His  long 
exile  having  obliterated  the  remembrance  of  his  misconduct, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  the  effect  rather  of  inexperience 
than  of  tyrannical  disposition,  he  was  become  the  object  of 
general  compassion  :  and,  in  the  year  1534,  the  landgrave, 
his  near  relation,  having  received  aid  from  the  King  of  France, 
restored  him  by  force  of  arms,  defeating  the  troops  of  Ferdi- 
nand, under  Philip  Count  Palatine.  In  this  expedition  the 
landgrave  was  not  supported  by  any  of  his  Protestant 
brethren  ;  and  his  proceeding  was  strongly  deprecated  by 
Luther  and  Melancthon  :  yet  its  issue  and  its  effects  alike 
surpassed,  or  even  contradicted,  their  expectations. 

Previously  to  the  year  1529  Ulric  had  received  impressions 
in  favour  of  the  reformation ;  and  at  that  time,  meeting 
Luther  at  the  conferences  at  Marpurg,  he  conceived  a  high 
esteem  and  admiration  for  him.  Hence  his  first  object  on 
the  recovery  of  his  dominions,  which  were  very  considerable, 
was  "  to  throw  them  open  to  the  admission  of  the  glory  of 
Christ,  and  to  introduce  the  preaching  of  his  unadulterated 
word,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  according  to 
his  institution."  In  establishing  reformation  he  had  recourse 
to  the  assistance  of  Schnepfius  of  Marpurg,  Blaurer  of 
Constance,  Brentius  of  Halle,  in  Suabia,  and  other  divines. 
Ulric  further  reformed  and  enriched  the  university  of  TiJbin- 
gen,  which  had  been  founded  by  his  ancestors,  and  procured 
the  assistance  of  Melancthon,  Grynseus,  and  Camerarius,  to 
draw  up  proper  regulations  for  its  management. 

The  reformation  of  Wiirtemberg  was  accompanied  or  fol- 
lowed by  that  of  Brunswick,  Calenberg,  Hanover,  Pomerania, 
and  Mecklenburg;  and  of  the  cities  of  Augsburg,  Bremen, 
and  Hamburgli. — John  Bugenhagen  was  a  native  of  Pome- 

*  Dr.  IVT'Crie  has  collected  extensive  and  hichly  interesting  notices  of 
the  progress  of  reformed  principles  in  botli  liaiy  and  Spain.  Hist,  of 
Kef.  ill  Italy  (1627),  and  Spain  (1S29). 


SUABIA AUSTRIA.  65 

rania,  and  was  one  of  those  who  introduced  the  reformed 
doctrme  into  his  country.  Behig  constrained  to  quit  his 
residence  there  i)y  the  reigning  duke,  he  had  settled  at  Wit- 
temberg,  where  our  attention  has  repeatedly  been  drawn  to 
him.  A  favourable  change  afterward  took  place,  and  in  the 
year  lo34  Bugenhagen  was  invited,  with  Paulus  a  Rhoda, 
from  Stettin,  to  join  in  organizing  and  establishing  the  reform- 
ation. In  1536  the  two  dukes  were  admitted  into  the  Prot- 
estant league. 

At  Augsburg,  the  senate  having  prohibited  the  popish 
worship  in  all  the  churches  except  the  cathedral,  the  priests 
quitted  the  city  :  on  which  reformed  preachers  were  univer- 
sally established  in  a  city  whence  a  few  years  before  the 
decree  had  issued  that  was  to  suppress  Protestantism. 

The  reformation  in  the  city  of  Nordlingen  in  Suabia  was 
carried  on  with  extraordinary  success.  As  early  as  the  year 
1522,  Tiieobald  Billicanus  had  been  called  to  the  office  of 
preacher  there,  by  the  senate,  who  had  obtained  the  right 
of  patronage  ;  and  two  years  after,  the  reformed  state  of  the 
city  of  Nuremberg  being  reported  to  them,  they  requested 
Billicanus  to  conform  things  at  Nordlingen  to  the  same 
model :  and  "  with  such  mighty  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  such  forcible  eloquence"  did  he  proceed  in  his  work, 
that  the  evangelical  doctrine  was  universally  received,  and, 
"  with  the  exception  of  the  stewards  of  certain  abbots,  who 
held  estates  there,  not  a  professed  papist  remained  in  the 
city." 

Even  in  Austria,  as  we  have  seen  was  also  the  case  in 
Italy  itself,  considerable  inclination  towards  reformation  in 
religion  was  manifested.  Pallavicini  relates,  that  when 
Aleander  was  sent  legate  from  Paul  III.  to  Ferdinand,  he 
found  "  in  the  very  entrance  of  Germany"  (the  Austrian 
provinces  appear  to  be  meant)  "  as  many  as  fifteen  hundred 
cures  vacant,  through  the  scarcity  of  Catholic  priests.'' 
The  historian  attributes  this  to  various  inferior  causes  ;  but 
a  more  true  reason  appears  to  have  been  the  wide  dissemina- 
tion of  evangelical  doctrine,  and  the  desire  for  it  excited 
even  among  the  subjects  of  the  countries  most  under  the 
influence  of  Rome. 

Some  notice  is  taken  in  the  former  volume*  of  the  reform- 


'  Vol.  i.  p.  199-201. 
F2 


66  REFORMATION   IN   DENMARK. 

ation  in  Denmark,  commenced  under  Christiern  II.,  and 
carried  on  under  his  sucGessor  Frederic.  It  was  much 
opposed  by  the  bishops  and  clergy.  In  1527,  Frederic 
assembled  the  senate  of  the  kingdom  at  Odensee,  and  ex- 
pressed his  purposes  to  them  in  unequivocal  and  determined 
language.  He  told  them,  that  it  was  well  known  what 
ignorance,  superstition,  and  absurdity  had  passed  under  the 
sacred  name  of  religion  ;  that  the  Lutheran  doctrine  and 
worship  had  now  taken  root  in  the  kingdom,  so  that  they 
could  not  be  eradicated  without  the  danger  of  public  ruin  ; 
and  he  pointed  out  to  them  the  course  proper  to  be  adopted 
under  existing  circumstances.  The  senate  concurred  with 
him,  and  came  to  the  resolution,  "  That  no  man  should  be 
disturbed  for  matters  of  conscience  ;  but  that  both  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  and  the  Lutheran  religion  should  be  freely 
exercised,  till  a  council  should  decide  the  questions  at  issue." 
Three  years  afterward,  articles  and  counter-articles  were 
exhibited  to  the  senate  by  the  two  parties,  but  the  former 
resolutions  were  adhered  to  :  and  the  divines  George  John, 
John  Tausson,  and  Christian  Slirock  were  encouraged  in 
preaching  the  reformed  doctrine.  In  1531,  the  king  acceded 
to  the  Smalkaldic  league.  He  died  two  years  afterward, 
and  great  disorders  ensued.  The  clergy  endeavoured  to 
prevent  the  succession  of  his  eldest  son,  Christiern,  because 
of  his  known  attachment  to  Protestantism,  and  set  up  his 
younger  brother  against  him — a  mere  child,  whom  they  in- 
tended to  educate  in  the  Romish  faith  ;  while  some  of  the 
people  proposed  to  restore  the  exiled,  and  now  imprisoned, 
monarch,  Christiern  II.  Christiern  III.  however  prevailed. 
He  imprisoned,  and  afterward  publicly  accused  of  treason- 
able practices,  all  the  seven  bishops  of  the  kingdom.  They 
were  deprived,  and  episcopacy,  as  it  had  hitherto  existed, 
with  powers  and  revenues  that  rendered  it  highly  formi- 
dable to  the  crown  itself,  was  abolished.  Bugenhagen,  who 
was  invited  from  Wittemberg,  placed  the  crown  upon  the 
king's  head,  drew  up  for  the  kingdom  a  scheme  of  ecclesias- 
tical order,  and  ordained  seven  superintendents  in  the  room 
of  the  deposed  bishops.  These  superintendents  were,  in- 
deed, still  commonly  denominated  bishops ;  but  they  held 
no  courts,  and  possessed  no  temporal  power  or  pre-eminence. 
This  change  (which  was  completed  in  1539)  is  said  to  have 
teen  greater  than  Luther  approved,  as  it  certainly  was 


ANABAPTISTS    OF   MUNSTER.  67 

greater  than  would  have  been  contemplated,  but  for  the 
violent  proceedings  of  the  bishops  themselves.  Bugenhao-en 
however  reported,  "  that  he  never  found  greater  desire  of 
hearing  the  Word  of  God  than  in  Denmark  :  that  the  peo- 
ple assembled  on  ordinary  days,  in  the  winter  season,  before 
it  was  light,  and  on  holydays  they  had  religious  services 
throughout  the  day." 

From  these  notices  of  the  progress  of  the  reformation 
we  may  proceed  to  some  other  miscellaneoiTs  topics. 

The  year  1534  was  distinguished  by  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  hursts  of  fanatical  extravagance  and  fury 
that  ever  disgraced  the  history  of  mankind.  A  body  of  ana- 
baptists seized  the  imperial  city  of  Munster,  and  fortified 
themselves  in  it.  They  made  John  Boccold,  a  journeyman 
tailor,  commonly  called  John  of  Leyden,  their  king ;  who 
was  to  become  '*  the  monarch  of  the  earth,"  and  to  march 
forth  for  the  destruction  of  all  other  kings  and  rulers, 
"giving  quarter  to  none  but  the  multitude,  who  were  lovers 
of  justice."  They  retained  possession  of  the  city  consider- 
ably more  than  a  year,  promulgating  the  wildest  principles, 
and  indulging  in  the  most  outrageous  practices  :  and  it  was 
not  without  a  confederacy  of  the  German  princes  against 
them,  under  the  leading  of  the  Bishop  of  Munster,  that  the 
city  was  at  length  reduced,  and  the  insurgents  suppressed. 

About  this  period,  and  especially  in  the  years  1535  and 
1539,  much  communication  took  place  between  the  court 
of  England  and  the  German  Protestants.  Mutual  letters 
and  embassies  passed  ;  and  Henry  VIII.  corresponded 
personally,  not  only  with  the  princes,  but  also  with  Melanc- 
thon.  At  the  early  part  of  the  period,  it  was  an  object 
with  him  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  Protestant  divines  to 
his  divorce  from  Catharine  of  Arragon  (the  emperor's 
aunt),  ard  to  check,  by  means  of  the  Protestant  princes,  the 
effect  of  Charles's  resentment  against  him  for  that  measure. 
He  was  willing  therefore  to  become  the  "defender  of  the 
faith"  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  with  some  alterations ; 
for  the  purpose  of  arranging  which  he  desired  to  have  com- 
missioners sent  over  to  him,  and  himself  particularly  invited 
Melancthon.  The  Protestants,  however,  were  shy  of  him, 
distrusting  his  professions  in  favour  of  reformation,  and 
being  detexmiiied  to  concur  in  no  oifen^ve  measures  against 


68  PROCEEDINGS    OF    HENRY    VIII. 

the  emperor,  so  long  as  he  suffered  them  to  enjoy  their 
reUgion  unmolested. 

In  the  latter  of  the  years  above  mentioned,  Henry  pro- 
mulgated his  famous  law  of  the  "  six  articles,"  establish- 
ing, under  the  penalty  of  death,  the  reception  of  many  of 
the  principal  tenets  and  practices  of  the  Romish  super- 
stition ;  after  which  the  elector  would  scarcely  hear  of  any 
further  communication  with  him  ;  and,  though  Bucer  with- 
held his  concurrence,  Luther,  Jonas,  Bugenhagen,  and 
Melancthon,  on  being  consulted,  pronounced  it  to  be  "  a  new 
device  of  Satan,  that,  when  the  power  of  the  pope  failed, 
kings  should  thus  take  upon  them  to  model  religion  accord- 
ing to  their  own  fancies  ;"  and  advised  that  Henry  should  be 
"  let  alone,  as  one  who  had  been  sufticiently  admonished, 
and  sinned  wilfully."  Melancthon,  whose  boldness  appears 
to  have  risen  in  proportion  to  the  disappointment  which  he 
felt  at  Henry's  conduct,  wrote  directly  to  the  king  himself  a 
long  and  faithful  expostulation.* 

The  proceedings  of  the  King  of  France  at  this  period, 
with  respect  both  to  the  German  Protestants  and  those 
•within  his  own  dominions,  were  extraordinary,  and  appa- 
rently very  inconsistent.  Disappointed  of  the  assistance 
which  he  had  expected  from  other  quarters,  in  the  war  that 
he  was  about  to  commence  against  the  emperor,  Francis 
earnestly  solicited  the  aid  of  the  Protestant  princes  asso- 
ciated by  the  league  of  Smalkald.    In  order  to  gain  their  con- 

*This  epistle  does  Melancthon  great  honour.  With  the  conrtesj'  and 
address  which  were  becoming,  it  combines  a  high  degree  of  boldness 
and  faithi\ilness  of  censure.  The  measure  itself  he  considers  as  mon- 
strous, in  some  points  going  beyond  what  had  elsewhere  been  heard  of. 
He  doubts  not  that  the  bishops  were  the  authors  of  it :  but  it  was  the 
king's  sanction  which  gave  it  validity:  and  all  the  German  Protestants 
lamented  that  he  should  become  the  instrument  of  other  men's  cruelty 
and  impiety.  How  remote  was  this  from  the  hopes  which  had  been 
formed  of  him.  The  hostility  of  other  princes  was  now  cocfirmed,  the 
obstinacy  of  the  wicked  increased,  and  old  errors  of  portentous  magni- 
tude established,  by  means  of  one  from  whom  they  had  hoped  for  the  very 
reverse.  The  writer  heard  that  Latimer  and  other  pious  men,  true  mem- 
bers of  Christ,  were  in  bonds  for  the  gospel's  sake  :  he  j)rayed  God  to 
give  them  strength  and  courage  worthy  of  Christians.  Nothing  more 
honourable  or  blessed  could  befall  them  than  to  die  for  the  sake  of  such 
manifest  and  important  truth  as  they  maintained  against  the  recent  law; 
but  God  tbrbid  that  the  king's  hand  should  be  stained  with  the  blood  of 
fuch  men.  "Recognise,"  he  says  to  Henry,"  the  snare  of  the  devil ; 
Btand  not  among  the  enemies  of  Christ,  wlio  are  stained  with  idolatry 
fijTjd  blood,  and  on  whom  God  will  assuredly  execute  vengeance." 


AND    OF    FRANCIS    I.  69 

fidence,  he  affected  a  wonderful  moderation  with  regard  to 
the  religious  points  in  dispute  ;  he  permitted  Bellay,  his 
envoy  in  Germany,  to  explain  his  sentiments  concerning 
some  of  the  most  important  articles,  in  terms  not  far  differ- 
ent from  those  used  by  the  Protestants ;  and  even  conde- 
scended to  invite  Melancthon  to  visit  Paris,  that  by  his  assist- 
ance he  might  concert  the  most  proper  measures  for  recon- 
ciling the  contending  sects,  which  so  unhappily  divided  the 
church.  Soon  after,  however,  he  lost  the  fruits  of  this 
disingenuous  artifice,  by  a  step  very  contrary  to  all  these 
professions,  but  in  some  degree  forced  upon  a  timeserving 
monarch,  by  the  prejudices  of  the  age  and  the  peculiar 
circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.* 

The  indiscreet  zeal  of  some  of  his  subjects,  who.  had  im- 
bibed the  Protestant  opinions,  and  who  were  irritated  at  the 
loss  of  the  liberty  which  they  had  enjoyed  of  disseminating 
their  sentiments,  prompted  them  to  affix  to  the  gates  of  the 
Louvre,  and  other  public  places,  papers  containing  indecent 
reflections  on  tlie  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  popish  church. 
Six  of  the  persons  concerned  were  discovered  and  seized. 
"  The  king,  in  order  to  avert  the  judgments  which  it  was 
supposed  their  blasphemies  might  draw  down  upon  the 
nation,  appointed  a  solemn  procession.  The  holy  sacra- 
ment was  carried  through  the  city  in  great  pomp  ;  Francis 
walked  uncovered  before  it,  bearing  a  torch  in  his  hand  ;  the 
princes  of  the  blood  supported  the  canopy  over  it ;  the  nobles 
marched  in  order  behind.  In  the  presence  of  this  numerous 
assembly,  the  king  declared  that,  if  one  of  his  hands  were 
infected  with  heresy,  he  would  cut  it  off  with  the  other,  and 
would  not  spare  even  his  own  children,  if  found  guilty  of 
that  crime.  As  a  dreadful  proof  of  his  being  in  earnest, 
the  six  unhappy  persons  were  publicly  burned  before  the 
procession  was  finished,  with  circumstances  of  the  most 
shocking  barbarity  attending  their  execution."  Nor  were 
these  six  persons,  who  were  burned  while  the  king  himself 
looked  on,  the  only  ones  who  suffered  on  this  occasion. 
John  Sturmius  of  Strasburg  writes  from  Paris  to  Melanc- 
thon, that  eighteen  had  been  burned  either  to  death,  or  for 
torture,  and  that  many  others  were  expecting  the  like  treat- 
ment.    And  Maimbourg,  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after- 

*  Robertson. 


70      THE  POPE  S  COMMISSION  FOR  REFORMATION. 

ward,  styles  this  "  a  most  just  execution  !"  The  princes  of 
the  league  of  Smalkald,  indignant  at  the  cruelty  with  which 
their  brethren  were  treated,  broke  off  all  further  negotiation 
with  ihe  King  of  France. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Roman  pontiff  deserve  likewise 
to  be  related.  Soon  after  his  accession  to  the  papal  chair, 
Paul  III.  made  repeated  overtures  for  a  general  council. 
The  nature  of  these  proposals,  or  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  were  made,  rendered  them  all,  as  might  have 
been  foreseen,  and  as  perhaps  was  intended,  abortive. 

"  That  he  might  not  seem  to  have  turned  his  whole  atten- 
tion towards  a  reformation  by  a  council,which  he  was'not  able 
to  accompUsh,  while  he  neglected  that  which  was  in  his  own 
power,"  he  next  professed  to  give  efficiency  to  a  commission 
of  cardinals  and  bishops,  which  he  had  three  years  before 
appointed  "  to  inquire  into  the  abuses  and  corruptions  of  the 
Roman  court,  and  to  propose  the  most  effectual  method 
of  removing  them.  This  scrutiny,  undertaken  with  reluc- 
tance, was  carried  on  slowly  and  with  remissness.  All 
defects  were  touched  with  a  gentle  hand,  afraid  of  probing 
too  deep,  or  discovering  too  much.  But  even  by  this  partial 
examination  many  irregularities  were  detected,  and  many 
enormities  exposed  to  light,  while  the  remedies  which  thoy 
suggested  as  most  proper  were  either  inadequate  or  were 
never  applied.  The  report  and  resolution  of  these  deputies, 
though  intended  to  be  kept  secret,  were  transmitted  by  some 
accident  into  Germany,  and  being  immediately  made  public, 
afforded  ample  matter  for  reflection  and  triumph  to  the 
Protestants.  On  the  one  hand,  they  demonstrated  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  reformation  in  the  head  as  well  as  the  members 
of  the  church,  and  even  pointed  out  many  of  the  corruptions 
against  which  Luther  and  his  followers  had  remonstrated 
with  the  greatest  vehemence.  They  showed,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  it  was  vain  to  expect  this  reformation  from 
ecclesiastics  themselves,  who,  as  Luther  strongly  expressed 
it,  piddled  at  curing  warts,  while  they  overlooked  or  con- 
firmed ulcers."* 

Most  of  the  points  adverted  to  by  the  pope's  commis- 
sioners were  little  more  than  of  an  external  kind.  None  of 
the  corrupt  doctrines  and  principles  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 

*  Father  Paul— Robertson. 


THE    pope's    MANCEUVRES.  71 

which  were  the  main  source  of  its  great  practical  errors,  and 
against  which  accordingly  Luther  had  especially  directed 
the  powerful  artillery  of  his  vehement  declamation  and 
irresistible  scriptural  arguments,  were  here  touched  upon. 
The  reader  will  be  amused  to  find,  among  loud  complaints 
made  of  "  ungodly  questions  bandied  about  and  disputed 
both  in  universities  and  churches,  and  of  mischievous  books 
circulated,"  what  was  the  only  pernicious  work  specified  : 
"  There  is  a  book  commonly  read  in  schools,  called  Eras- 
miis^s  Colloquies,  in  which  there  are  many  things  that  may 
make  a  dangerous  impression  on  the  understandings  of 
young  and  unwary  people,  and  pervert  a  floating  and 
unsettled  age,  which  WTmts  a  sufficient  ballast  of  principles 
and  gravity  to  keep  it  steady.  This  book,  therefore,  and 
others  of  the  same  kind,  must  be  prohibited  in  all  schools.'* 
Alas  !  for  poor  Erasmus,  that  after  all  his  pains  to  stand 
v.-^ell  with  popes,  and  cardinals,  and  bishops,  he  should  thus 
have  one  of  his  best-known  publications  placed  in  this  soli- 
tary station  of  "  bad  eminence,"  ere  the  hand  that  wrote  it 
was  well  cold  in  the  grave  !  His  case  strikingly  teaches  us 
the  lesson,  how  vain  it  is  to  think  of  conciliating  ambitious 
men,  and  particularly  ambitious  and  political  churchmen, 
by  truckling  to  them  in  our  general  conduct,  while  we  can- 
not make  up  our  minds  to  go  all  lengths  with  them.  We 
must  either  do  this,  or  be  content  to  lose  our  characters 
with  such  men  entirely.  To  attempt  any  middle  course 
will  only  make  us  much  less  respected  by  them  than  their 
open  and  consistent  opponents  are. 

Nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  a  reformation  like  that 
proposed  by  the  pope's  commissioners.  "  The  tree"  itself 
must  be  "made  good"  before  its  "fruit"  could  become  so. 
But  here  even  the  little  which  was  proposed  was  never 
attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution.  The  pope  referred 
the  report  of  the  commissioners  to  the  consistory  of  cardi- 
nals ;  where  Schonberg,  Cardinal  and  Archbishop  of  Capua, 
"  who  was  believed  to  have  been  deputed  by  the  pope  for 
the  purpose,"  zealously  opposed  all  reformation  ;  urging, 
among  other  arguments,  that  "  the  Lutherans  would  boast 
that  they  had  forced  the  pope  into  it ;"  and  also  that  "  the 
very  change  would  be  a  confession  that  the  things  altered 
had  been  justly  reprehended  by  those  heretics — which  would 


72  HOLY   ALLIANCE. 

prove  a  great  abetting  of  their  whole  doctrine."*  The 
result  was,  a  resolution  to  proceed  no  further  in  the  business. 

The  report  of  the  commissioners,  being  sent  into  Ger- 
many, was  presently  published  there,  and  was  freely  ani- 
madverted upon  both  by  John  Sturmius  and  by  Luther. 
"  In  Luther's  book,"  Sleidan  observes,  "  a  man  need  only 
look  on  the  cut  in  the  frontispiece  to  understand  his  argu- 
ment ;  for  the  pope  is  represented  sitting  upon  a  high 
throne,  and  several  of  the  cardinals  about  him,  who,  with 
foxes'  tails  tied  at  the  end  of  poles,  are  busily  employed  in 
brushing  away  the  cobwebs  all  around  !" 

With  the  nuncios  whom  the  pope  had  despatched  into 
Germany  on  the  subject  of  a  general  council,  the  emperor 
had  deputed  his  vice-chancellor  Heldo,  with  orders  to  sup- 
port the  pope's  propositions  to  the  utmost.  This  officer, 
perceiving  the  advantages  that  the  Protestants  derived  from 
the  league  by  which  they  were  all  united  in  one  firm  body, 
busied  himself  among  the  different  princes  in  forming  a 
counter-confederation,  which  was  styled  the  "  Holy  Alli- 
ance," for  the  support  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. 
This  league  was  entirely  uncalled  for,  since  none  could 
pretend  that  the  professors  of  that  religion  were  exposed  to 
the  same  danger  that  the  Protestants  were ;  and  accord- 
ingly it  obtained  but  few  subscribers.  The  Archbishops 
of  Mentz  and  Salzburg  (the  former,  however,  only  in  his 
characterof  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg),  William  and  Lewis 
Dukes  of  Bavaria,  George  Duke  of  Saxony,  and  Eric  and 
Henry  Dukes  of  Brunswick  (of  whom  Henry  had  now 
become  the  great  instigator  of  all  measures  against  the 
Protestants),  were  the  only  persons  that  acceded  to  it. 

This  league  was  to  have  remained  a  profound  secret,  but 
the  rumour  of  it  soon  got  abroad,  and  was  confirmed  by 
some  intercepted  letters  from  Henry  of  Brunswick  to  Heldo 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz.  This,  added  to  other  unsat- 
isfactory and  suspicious  circumstances,  excited  great  alarm 
in  the  minds  of  the  Protestants.  They  were  ready  to 
imagine  that  the  emperor  was  about  to  put  in  execution 
some  formidable  plan  for  their  extirpation,  or  at  least  for 
the  suppression  of  their  opinions  and  their  religious  liber- 
ties.    They  therefore  held   frequent   meetings,  and  were 

*  Father  Paul. 


CONVENTION  OF  FRANKFORT.        73 

proposing  to  raise  the  contingents  of  men  and  money  which 
their  league  obliged  them  respectively  to  furnish. 

"  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  they  were  convinced 
that  their  apprehensions  were  without  foundation,  and  that 
the  emperor,  to  whom  repose  was  absolutely  necessary 
after  etibrts  so  much  beyond  his  strength  in  the  war  with 
France,  had  no  thoughts  of  disturbing  the  tranquillity  of 
Germany.  As  a  proof  of  this,  at  an  interview  with  the 
Protestant  princes  in  Frankfort,  his  ambassadors  agreed, 
that  all  concessions  in  their  favour,  particularly  those  con- 
tained in  the  pacification  of  Nuremberg,  should  continue  in 
force  for  fifteen  months;  that  during  this  period  all  pro- 
ceedings of  the  imperial  chamber  against  them  should  be 
suspended ;  that  a  conference  should  be  held  by  a  few 
divines  of  each  party,  in  order  to  discuss  the  points  in  con- 
troversy, and  to  propose  articles  of  accommodation  which 
should  be  laid  before  the  next  diet.  Though  the  emperor, 
that  he  might  not  irritate  the  pope,  who  remonstrated  against 
the  first  part  of  this  agreement  as  impolitic,  and  against  the 
latter  as  an  impious  encroachment  upon  his  prerogative, 
never  formally  ratified  this  convention,  it  was  observed  with 
considerable  exactness,  and  greatly  strengthened  the  basis 
of  that  ecclesiastical  liberty  for  which  the  Protestants  con- 
tended."* 

With  the  "  Convention  of  Frankfort,"  thus  made  on  the 
19th  of  April,  1539,  we  close  the  present  chapter  ;  referring 
to  the  ensuing  one  several  particulars,  most  of  them  relating 
to  Luther  himself,  which  fall  within  the  same  period. 

*  RobertsoE. 
Vol.  II.— G 


74  LUTHER  S   INTERVIEW- 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Luther'' s  Interview  loith  Vergerio — Concord  of  Wittemherg — 
Ecclesiastical  Funds — Luthcr^s  Illness  and  Prayer — 
Character  of  Popery — Luther^s  alleged  Conference  with 
Satan — His  Writings. 

Among  the  agents  whom  the  pope  sent  into  Germany  on 
the  subject  of  a  council,  Peter  Paul  Vergerio,  subsequently 
Bishop  of  Capo  D'Istria,  who  had  also  been  nuncio  to  King 
Ferdinand  at  the  period  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  held  an 
eminent  place.  This  person  eventually  became  a  Protest- 
ant, and  was  himself  subjected  to  persecution  for  his 
religion  ;  and  in  that  view  he  will  hereafter  claim  our 
attention ;  but  at  present  he  was  a  willing  instrument  of  the 
pope's  insincere  and  artful  proceedings.  He  was  chiefly 
distinguished  for  skill  in  the  civil  and  canon  law.  Among 
other  things,  he  was  instructed  to  endeavour,  if  possible,  to 
bring  over  Luther  and  Melancthon,  or  any  other  of  the 
more  eminent  Protestant  divines.  Accordingly,  on  his 
arrival  at  Wittemberg,  he  sent  for  Luther.  Very  different 
accounts  are  given  of  their  interview  ;  but  that  delivered  by 
Father  Paul,  and  that  inserted  in  Luther's  German  works, 
though  independent  documents,  mutually  corroborate  each 
other. 

The  latter  document,  v/hich  is  written  in  a  somewhat 
sportive  style,  states  that  Vergerio  came  to  V/ittemberg  on 
the  evening  of  November  6,  1535,  with  a  splendid  retinue, 
and  was  conducted  to  the  castle  with  all  due  honour  by  the 
provincial  governor.  The  next  morning  Luther  sent  for  his 
barber  at  an  early  hour,  and  told  him  he  was  summoned  to 
attend  the  nuncio  of  his  holiness  the  pope,  and  he  would  by 
3io  means  go  in  dishabille,  for  he  wished  to  look  young,  that 
his  enemies  might  think  he  had  a  long  time  yet  to  live. 
He  then  put  on  his  best  suit,  and  a  golden  ornament  (a 
present  from  the  elector)  about  his  neck,  and  remarked,- 
when  his  attendant  expressed  some  surprise,  "  This  is  the 
vi-e^  in  which  we  must  deal  Vt^ith  these  foxes  and  ^erpenis."' 


WITH   VERGERIO.  75 

Then  getting  into  a  chariot  which  had  been  sent  for  him 
from  the  castle,  accompanied  by  Bugenhagen,  he  said, 
*'  Here  go  the  Pope  of  Germany  and  Cardinal  Pomeranus  !" 
Being  introduced,  he  conversed  with  the  nuncio,  among 
other  things,  on  the  subject  of  the  council.  He  said,  it  was 
not  seriously  proposed  ;  the  pope  did  but  play  with  them  ; 
and  if  it  were  held,  it  would  busy  itself  only  about  trifles, 
such  as  tonsures  and  vestments,  and  not  upon  faith,  and 
justification,  and  the  bringing  of  Christians  to  the  unity 
of  the  spirit  and  of  doctrine — ^for  this  would  not  suit  their 
purpose.  He  added,  that  he  and  his  friends  felt  such 
assurance  of  what  they  believed,  as  not  to  need  the  deter- 
mination of  a  council ;  though  others  might  do  it,  who 
groaned  under  the  oppression  of  men  who  did  not  themselves 
know  what  they  believed.  "But,"  said  he,  "call  your 
council ;  God  willing,  I  will  attend  it,  though  I  should  be 
burned  by  it."  Vergerio  asked  where  he  would  have  it 
held.  "  Where  you  please,"  he  replied ;  "  at  Mantua,  at 
Padua,  at  Florence,  or  anywhere  else."  Vergerio  asked, 
was  he  willing  it  should  be  at  Bologna?  He  inquired  to 
whom  that  city  then  belonged  ;  and  on  being  told,  "  To  the 
pope  ;"  "  Gracious  Heaven,"  he  exclaimed,  "has  the  pope 
seized  that  place  too  ?  Well,  I  will  come  even  thither." — 
The  nuncio,  in  a  courtierlike  manner,  said  something  of  the 
pope's  visiting  Wittemberg.  "  Let  him  come,"  said  Luther, 
*'we  shall  be  glad  to  see  him."  "But,"  said  Vergerio, 
"  would  you  have  him  come  with  an  army,  or  unattended  "?" 
"As  he  pleases,"  replied  Luther,  "we  shall  be  ready  for 
him  either  way."  The  nuncio  then  inquired  whether  the 
ministers  in  Saxony  were  consecrated.  Luther  replied, 
"  Certainly  ;  as  the  pope  will  not  consecrate  them  for  us, 
here  sits  a  bishop"  (pointing  to  Bugenhan-en)  "whom,  we 
have  consecrated." — "  Much  more  conversation,"  says  the 
author  of  the  narrative,  "  passed  between  them,  in  which 
Luther  fully  explained  his  views,  with  the  utmost  freedom, 
and  even,  where  the  case  required,  with  sharpness  of  re- 
mark." On  his  taking  leave,  Vergerio  said,  "  See  that  you 
be  ready  for  the  council."  "  I  will  come,"  replied  Luther, 
"with  my  life  in  my  hand." 

The  reformer,  according  to  this  narrative,  was  perfectly 
at  his  ease,  and  assumed  the  superior  ground ;  which  of 
right  belonged  to  him  in  every  respect  except  that  of  external 


76  Luther's  interview 

rank. — It  may  be  observed,  that  Luther  seems  never  to 
have  concerned  himself,  so  much  as  many  did,  in  what 
place  the  council  should  be  held  :  the  one  great  point  with 
him  was,  that  the  Scriptures  alone  should  be  the  rule  of 
judgment. 

Father  Paul's  account  of  this  interview  is  more  copious, 
and  delivered  in  a  more  serious  style.  It  is  in  substance  as 
follows  : 

"  Vergerio  treated  with  Luther  very  courteously,  en- 
larging much  on  the  council  and  other  topics.  He  assured 
him  that  the  pope  and  cardinals  respected  him  highly,  and 
were  infinitely  grieved  for  the  loss  of  one  who,  had  he 
employed  himself  .in  the  cause  of  God  and  of  the  apostoHcal 
see,  might  have  done  them  inestimable  service  :  that  the 
pope  blamed  the  harshness  of  Cajetan  and  the  severity  of 
Leo  in  their  dealings  with  him :  that  for  himself  (the 
nuncio),  as  he  did  not  profess  divinity,  he  would  not  dispute 
with  him  on  the  existing  controversies,  but  that  by  common 
reason  he  could  show  him  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to 
reunite  himself  with  the  head  of  the  church  ;  for  that, 
seeing  his  religion,  which  had  come  to  light  only  eighteen 
years  before,  had  raised  innumerable  sects  and  popular 
seditions,  attended  with  the  death  or  banishment  of  great 
numbers,  it  could  not  be  concluded  that  it  came  from  God  : 
that  it  demonstrated  too  blind  a  self-love  for  a  man  to  trouble 
the  whole  world  in  order  to  disseminate  his  own  opinions : 
that,  if  he  could  not  but  adopt  them,  it  was  sufficient  for  his 
own  conscience  and  salvation  to  keep  them  to  himself;  that 
the  confusion  produced  had  become  so  great  that  a  remedy 
could  no  longer  be  deferred,  and  that  it  was  in  Luther's 
power  to  make  it  easy,  if  he  would  be  present  at  the  council, 
and  treat  with  charity,  and  oblige  the  pope — who  was  a 
munificent  prince,  and  took  special  notice  of  persons  of 
merit,  ^neas  Sylvius,  he  further  observed,  by  following 
his  own  opinions,  with  incessant  toil,  could  rise  no  higher 
than  to  be  canon  of  Trent ;  but,  being  changed  to  a  better 
mind,  became  a  bishop,  a  cardinal,  and  finally  Pope  Pius  II. ; 
and  that  Cardinal  Bessarion's  advancement  had  fallen  little 
short  of  this. — Lather  in  reply  told  him,  that  he  made  no 
account  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
court  of  Rome,  whose  hatred  he  feared  not,  nor  desired 
their  favour  :  that  he  declined  no  labour  in  the  ministry  of 


WITH    VERGERIO.  77 

God's  Word,  though  he  was  but  an  unprofitable  servant : 
that  he  could  see  no  more  affinity  between  the  sendee  of 
Christ  and  that  of  the  papaej'-,  than  between  hght  and  dark- 
ness :  that  nothing  in  his  whole  life  had  been  more  service- 
able to  him  than  the  severity  of  Leo  and  the  harshness  of 
Cajetan  ;  so  that  he  could  not  ascribe  their  conduct  to 
themselves,  but  to  the  providence  of  God  ;  for  that,  not 
being  at  that  time  enhghtened  in  the  great  system  of  Chris- 
tian truth,  but  having  only  discovered  certain  abuses  in  the 
matter  of  indulgences,  he  should  easily  have  been  prevailed 
upon  to  be  silent,  if  only  his  adversaries  would  have 
served  the  same  condition  ;  but  that  the  writings  of  Prierias, 
the  haughtiness  of  Cajetan,  and  the  violence  of  Leo  drove 
him  to  investigate  the  whole  subject,  and  thus  to  discover 
errors  and  abuses  more  numerous  and  more  intolerable  ; 
such  as  a  man  could  not  conceal  with  a  safe  conscience  ; 
that  the  nuncio  had  ingenuously  confessed,  that  he  was  not 
conversant  in  theology,  which  indeed  appeared  from  the 
arguments  he  used ;  for  that  none  could  call  the  doctrine  of 
the  reformers  new,  unless  he  believed  that  Christ,  the  apostles, 
and  the  holy  fathers  governed  their  lives  by  such  rules  as 
the  pope,  the  cardinals,  and  the  bishops  now  did  :  nor  could 
any  argument  be  drawn  against  the  doctrine  from  the  dis- 
cords in  Germany,  except  by  one  Httle  acquainted  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  not  aware  that  it  is  the  peculiar  mark  of  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  gospel  of  Christ,  that  where  it  is 
preached  in  the  world  it  occasions  troubles  and  tumults, 
even  to  the  setting  of  the  son  against  the  father,  and  the 
father  against  the  son  ;  and  that  its  effect  is,  to  give  life  to 
them  that  obey  it,  but  to  increase  condemnation  to  them 
that  reject  it :  that  it  was  a  great  fault  of  the  Romanists  to 
support  the  church  of  Christ,  as  if  it  w^ere  a  temporal  state, 
by  human  sanctions  ;  that  this  is  that  kind  of  wisdom  which 
St.  Paul  calls  '  foolishness  with  God  ;'  v/hereas  to  disregard 
those  political  considerations  by  which  the  Romish  hie- 
rarchy is  conducted,  to  trust  the  promises  of  God,  and  to 
refer  the  interests  of  the  church  to  his  divine  management, 
is  that  folly  of  men  which  is  wisdom  with  God  :  that  it  was 
not  in  the  power  of  Martin  to  make  the  council  succeed, 
and  prove  profitable  to  the  church  ;  it  rather  depended  on 
the  pope's  leaving  it  free,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  alone 
might  rule  and  preside  in  it ;  and  that,  all  interests,  usurpa- 
G  -^ 


78      Luther's  interview  with  vergerio. 

tions,  and  artifices  of  men  being  excluded,  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures might  be  the  sole  standard  by  which  every  thing 
should  be  decided  :  that,  if  it  were  so  conducted,  he,  for  his 
part,  would  carry  with  him  .thither  all  possible  sincerity  and 
Christian  charity — not  for  the  purpose  of  pleasing  the  pope, 
or  any  human  being,  but  of  promoting  the  glory  of  Christ, 
and  establishing  the  peace  and  liberty  of  the  church  ;  but 
that  so  great  a  blessing  to  the  Christian  world  could  not  be 
hoped  for,  unless  all  hypocrisy  were  laid  aside,  and  the 
wrath  of  God  against  their  sins  appeased  by  serious  repent- 
ance ;  that  the  assembling  together  of  men,  ever  so  learned, 
was  but  a  weak  resource  for  this  great  work  ;  seeing  that, 
so  long  as  the  wrath  of  God  is  kindled,  there  is  no  error  so 
absurd  to  which  the  grand  enemy  of  mankind  cannot  per- 
suade those  great  learned  men  who  trust  in  their  own 
wisdom  and  knowledge — for  it  pleases  God  '  to  confound 
the  wisdom  of  the  wise:'  that  he  could  receive  nothing 
from  the  court  of  Rome  compatible  with  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel:  that  the  examples  of  .^neas  Sylvius  and  Bessarion 
moved  him  not  at  all ;  the  twinkling  splendour  of  worldly 
greatness  having  no  attractions  for  him ;  but  that,  if  he 
were  inclined  to  boast  himself,  he  might  adopt  the  facetious 
remark  of  Erasmus,  '  that  poor  and  despised  Luther  made 
many  rich  and  great ;'  that  he  need  not  go  far  to  prove 
this  ;  as  the  nuncio  himself  knew  that,  only  in  the  month 
of  May  last,  the  advancement  of  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Roches- 
ter, to  the  cardinalate  was  greatly  owing,  and  that  of 
Schonberg  entirely  owing,  to  him."—"  Vergerio,  therefore,'* 
proceeds  Father  Paul,  "  could  gain  nothing  from  Luther, 
who  maintained  his  wonted  magnanimity,  and  held  fast  his 
doctrine  as  firmly  as  if  it  had  been  the  object  of  vision  to 
his  botiily  eyes  ;  openly  avowing  that  the  pope  and  the 
nuncio  should  sooner  embrace  his  doctrine  than  he  would 
surrender  it." 

This  relation  excites  the  indignation  of  Pallavicini  and 
Maimbourg,  who  roundly  charge  the  great  author  who 
delivers  it  with  fiction  and  falsehood.  In  support  of  the 
charge  Pallavicini  quotes  Vergerio's  letters  to  Rome,  in 
which  he  says  that  he  "  only  saw  Luther  at  dinner,  just 
before  he  left  Wittemberg  ;  that  Luther  talked  of  indifferent 
matters,  and  in  a  very  mean  style,  answering  only  by  mono- 
syllables ;  and  that  he  appeared  to  him  to  be  distinguished 


CONCORD    OF    WITTEMBERG,  79 

by  nothing  but  impudence  and  malice."  Such  a  report  of 
the  poverty  and  meanness  of  Luther's  conversation  is  in 
itself  utterly  incredible.  The  account  is  also  not  very  con- 
sistent with  itself,  for  wherein  was  he  to  show  his  "  impu- 
dence and  malice,"  if  he  talked  merely  "  of  inditferent 
matters,"  and  "answered  only  by  monosyllables'!"  And 
indeed  Maimbourg  himself,  who  quotes  it,  betrays  a  sus- 
picion that  it  might  have  been  framed  to  suit  the  wishes  of 
those  to  whom  it  was  addressed  :  "  Especially,"  he  says, 
"  if  the  nuncio  was  conscious  of  having  imbibed  some 
taint  of  the  heresy  which  he  afterward  avowed,  he  would 
write  in  this  way  concerning  an  interview  with  Luther."* 

The  lamentable  sacramental  controversy  which  perma- 
nently divided  the  friends  of  the  reformation  has  already 
been  repeatedly  noticed.!  We  may  here  add,  that  under 
the  auspices  of  Bucer,  who  was  ever  intent  upon  healing 
the  division,  and  for  that  desirable  object  sometimes  per- 
haps had  recourse  to  nice  refinements  beyond  what  was 
consistent  with  perfect  "  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,"  a 
union  was  at  length  effected  between  certain  of  the  parties 
litigant.  This  was  called  the  Concord  of  Wittemberg,  and 
took  place  in  the  year  1536.  It  was  here  conceded  to 
Luther,  "  That  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  truly  and 
substantially  present  in  the  Eucharist,  and  that  they  are 
received,  with  the  bread  and  wine,  equally  by  the  worthy 
and  the  unworthy  communicant" — for  the  latter  position, 
no  less  than  the  former,  was  considered  as  essential  to  his 
doctrine.  The  Swiss,  however,  could  never  be  brought  to 
consent  to  these  propositions  :  but  the  divines  and  churches 
of  Strasburg  and  other  places  in  Upper  Germany,^  which 

*  Melancthon  in  one  of  his  epistles  adverts  to  tliis  interview,  and  says, 
"  Luther  conversed  with  Vergerio  very  freely  on  the  Romish  tyranny." 
It  may  be  proper  however  to  add,  that  Bayle,  who  in  his  Dictionary, 
under  the  article  LuLher,  has  mainly  employed  himself  in  examining 
and  exposing  the  many  calumnies  propagated  against  the  reformer, 
thinks  he  finds  reason  to  doubt  the  authenticity  of  Father  Paul's  account, 
particularly  in  what  relates  to  his  orders  to  gain  Qver  some  of  the  lead- 
ing reformers.— Even  if  we  suppose  that  great  author  on  this  occasion 
to  have  indulged  his  imagination,  his  inventions  will  still  show  us  what 
he  thought  to  be  probable,  and  consonant  to  the  character  of  the  two 
parties  respectively. 

tVol.i.  p.  214,  282,  338. 

t  Strasburg  was  at  that  time,  and  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after, 
a  German  city. 


80  LUTHER   ON   THE    MASS. 

had  before  inclined  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Helvetic  church, 
now  retired  from  its  communion,  and  joined  themselves  by 
a  public  act  to  that  of  Luther  ;  a  circumstance  which  gave 
abundant  satisfaction  to  that  reformer.  Those  however 
who  believe,  with  the  Church  of  England,  that  "  the  body 
of  Christ  is  given,  taken,  and  eaten  in  the  Supper,  only 
after  a  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner,"  and  that  "the 
mean  whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in 
the  Supper  is  faith,"  will  think  the  following  little  anec- 
dote, connected  with  the  event,  as  interesting  as  any  part  of 
the  proceedings.  "  On  the  day  that  Bucer  preached  at 
Wittemberg,  Luther  invited  him  to  supper,  and  after  com- 
mending his  sermon,  observed  however  that  '  he  could 
preach  better  than  Bucer.'  Bucer  courteously  assented, 
saying  that  '  by  universal  consent  that  praise  belonged  to 
Luther.'  Luther,  then  speaking  seriously,  said,  '  Do  not 
think  that  I  am  vainly  boasting  ;  I  am  conscious  of  my  own 
slender  stores  ;  nor  could  I  preach  so  ingenious  and  learned 
a  sermon  as  you  have  done  to-day  :  but  my  practice  is  this  ; 
when  I  mount  the  pulpit,  I  consider  what  is  the  character 
of  my  hearers,  most  of  whom  are  rude  and  uninstructed 
people — almost  Goths  and  Vandals — and  I  preach  to  them 
what  I  think  they  can  understand :  but  you  rise  aloft,  and  soar 
into  the  clouds  ;  so  that  your  sermons  suit  the  learned,  but 
are  unintelligible  to  our  plain  people.  I  endeavour  to  copy 
the  mother,  who  thinks  her  child  better  fed  with  the  simple 
milk  of  the  breast,  than  with  the  most  costly  confections.'" 

Luther  has  a  remarkable  sentence,  written  about  this 
time,  concerning  the  mass.  "  This  article,"  he  says,  "  will 
be  made  a  main  point  with  the  council :  though  they  should 
allow  us  all  the  rest,  they  will  not  yield  a  hair's  breadth  here. 
Campeggio  said  at  Augsburg,  that  he  would  be  torn  limb 
from  limb  rather  than  consent  to  abolish  the  mass.  And  I," 
subjoins  Luther,  "  would  rather  be  burned  to  ashes  than  put 
an  administrator  of  the  mass,  with  the  service  which  he  per- 
forms, on  a  footing  with  Christ" — namely,  by  making  his 
offering  "  a  sacrifioe  for  the  sins  of  the  hving  and  the  dead." 
"  We  shall  therefore  eternally  differ  on  this  point :  and  with 
the  mass  the  papacy  itself  will  stand  or  fall." 

To  a  full  assembly  of  the  Protestant  princes  and  states  at 
this  time  held  at  Smalkald,  an  application  was  made  from 
their  divines  generally  for  a  provision  to  be  made,  out  of  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL    FUNDS.  81 

ecclesiastical  funds,  for  a  triple  object — the  maintenance  of 
the  clergy,  the  education  of  youth,  and  the  support  of  hos- 
pitals for  the  aged  and  infirm  poor.  This  had  been  done  in 
some  places,  but  was  felt  to  be  very  necessary  in  all.  And 
as  the  appropriation  of  the  funds  in  question  was  a  subject 
on  which  the  Protestants  were  perpetually  assailed  by  their 
enemies,  and  much  harassed  by  the  imperial  chamber,  an 
abstract  of  their  answer  to  this  apphcation  may  show  the 
principles  on  which  they  acted,  and  constantly  maintained 
that  they  were  fully  justified  in  acting,  with  respect  to  them. 
After  considering  the  petition,  the  princes  and  deputies 
resolve — "  Seeing  that  the  persons  who  call  themselves 
ecclesiastical  prelates  and  ministers  adhere  to  the  dogmas 
and  ceremonies  of  the  papacy,  and  will  not  agree  with  us  in 
religion ;  and  that  thus  monasteries,  collegiate  churches, 
and  other  institutions  have  come,  or  are  likely  to  come,  into 
our  hands  ;  we  unanimously  resolve  to  place  over  the  par- 
ishes within  our  respective  jurisdictions  learned,  virtuous, 
and  pious  pastors,  preachers,  and  ministers,  and  to  provide 
from  the  ecclesiastical  funds  for  the  sulhcient  and  respectable 
support  of  them  and  their  families,  according  to  the  situa- 
tions which  they  may  occupy.  We  will  appoint  also  super- 
intendents of  the  pastors  and  ministers,  to  watch  over  their 
lives  and  doctrine.  And  that  there  never  may  be  wanting 
in  our  churches  a  succession  of  Christian  pastors  and 
ministers,  we  will  establish  schools,'or  support  those  already 
established,  within  our  respective  jurisdictions,  for  the  train- 
ing of  youth  in  sound  learning  and  virtuous  manners.  We 
will  also  appoint  stipends  for  poorer  scholars,  especially  such 
as  may  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  holy  Scriptures 
and  divine  knowledge.  We  will  erect  and  endow  hospitals 
for  the  poor  of  either  sex :  in  order  that  all  may  be  done, 
where  it  has  not  been  done  already,  which  can  be  expected 
in  this  behalf  from  Christian  princes  and  magistrates." 
And  this  regulation,  Seckendorf  informs  us,  though  repeat- 
edly reconsidered,  was  never  afterward  rescinded  or  even 
altered  ;  so  that,  if  any  acted  not  up  to  it,  it  was  their  own 
private  fault,  and  contrary  to  the  engagement  which  they 
had  made.  And  who  shall  deny  that  it  was  infinitely  better, 
and  more  becoming  Christian  rulers,  and  even  more  agree- 
able to  the  original  desiign  of  these  funds,  to  make  such  a 
Use  of  them,  than  to  suffer  them  to  be  applied  to  perpetuate 


82  Luther's  illness. 

the  superstitions  and  vices  of  popery  among  the  people  1 
The  Protestants  were  never  backward  to  meet  the  question 
of  the  propriety  of  their  decision  on  this  subject.  They 
constantly  maintained,  that,  in  thus  appropriating  these 
revenues,  they  fulfilled  the  duty  of  faithftd  trustees,  accord- 
ing to  the  light  which  by  the  good  providence  of  God  now 
shone  upon  them,  and  as  both  the  wishes  and  the  interests 
of  their  subjects  required.* 

In  carrying  these  measures  into  effect,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
the  present  possessors  were  allowed  to  retain  their  emolu- 
ments for  life,  if  they  chose  to  stay  in  their  places,  and  act 
as  peaceable  citizens  :  but  if  they  withdrew  from  the  coun- 
try, they  forfeited  their  advantages.  Such  is  the  substance 
of  the  information  afforded  by  the  best  historians  upon  this 
subject :  and  it  surely  tends  strongly  to  repel  the  charges  so 
liberally  brought  against  the  reformers  of  alluring  the  princes, 
and  against  the  princes  of  being  allured,  by  the  prospect  of 
plundering  the  wealth  of  the  church,  to  favour  the  reform- 
ation. 

While  attending  the  meeting  at  Smalkald,  Luther  suffered 
a  very  severe  and  dangerous  illness,  arising  from  a  topical 
complaint.!  At  his  own  earnest  entreaty,  therefore,  he  was 
removed  from  Smalkald  on  the  26th  of  February ;  and, 
beyond  all  expectation,  his  first  day's  journey  homeward  so 
relieved  him,  that  he  wrote  his  wife  word  that  he  felt  him- 
self "  quite  a  new  man."  "  But  he  tells  her,  that  "  for  eight 
days  together  he  had  had  neither  ease  nor  sleep,  and  had 
rejected  all  nourishment.  In  short,"  he  says,  "  I  was  a 
dead  man,  and  had  committed  you  and  my  children  to  God 
and  to  our  kind  prince.  I  felt  much  for  you,  but  had  no 
hope  of  seeing  you  again.  Such  urgent  prayers  however 
were  offered  for  me,  and  so  many  tears  shed,  that  I  am 
relieved." — His  illness  produced  a  deep  sensation  among  the 
parties  assembled  at  Smalkald  ;  and  when  the  elector  was 
informed  of  the  relief  he  had  found,  he  wrote  immediately 
to  him,  expressing  the  joy  he  felt,  and  that  he  had  caused 
public  thanks  to  be  returned  to  Almighty  God.     Within  the 

*  When  funds  have  been  appropriated  to  public  purposes  which  are  no 
longer  held  to  be  useful,  the  law  places  the  disposal  of  them  in  the  crown. 
— Lord  Eldon. 

t  "  Octo  diebus  obstructo  urina?  meatu."  '•  A  prima'dominica  (18  Feb.) 
ad  alteram  usque,  nuUam  lotii  guttam  eniittere  potui." 


Luther's  prayer.  83 

week,  however,  at  Gotha,  he  suffered  a  relapse  ;  ant!  in  con- 
sequence prepared  for  death.  He  communicated  to  Bucren- 
hagen,  who  accompanied  him,  his  last  wishes.  He  told  him, 
that  he  knew  he  had  done  rightly,  and  thanked  God  for  what 
he  had  been  led  to  do,  in  attacking  the  papacy,  which  was 
the  enemy  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  his  gospel.  He  sent 
his  remembrances  to  Melancthon,  Jonas,  and  Cruciorer ; 
asking  their  pardon  for  any  thing  in  which  he  might  have 
oifended  them.  He  sent  his  salutations  to  the  deacons  and 
the  citizens  of  Wittemberg,  acknowledging  their  kindness  to 
him.  "  Charge  the  princes  also,"  he  said,  "  in  my  name, 
confiding  in  God,  to  do  boldly  whatever  the  Holy  Spirit  shall 
direct  them  to  in  the  cause  of  the  gospel :  the  particular 
measures  I  do  not  prescribe  to  them.  May  the  God  of  mercy 
strengthen  them  to  hold  fast  the  sound  doctrine  which  they 
have  received,  and  fill  them  with  thankfulness  for  their  deliv- 
erance from  Antichrist.  T  have  earnestly  recommended  them 
to  God  in  my  prayers  ;  and  I  trust  that  he  will  preserve 
them,  imperfect  though  they  be,  from  yielding  again  to  the 
papal  impiety."  "  Finally,"  he  said,  "  my  soul  I  commend 
to  the  hands  of  my  Father,  and  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
I  have  preached  and  confessed  on  earth." — It  pleased  God, 
however,  that,  through  the  skill  and  attention  of  the  physi- 
cian, George  Sturzius,  who  accompanied  him,  he  recovered. 
On  leaving  Smalkald,  Luther  let  fall  an  expression,  which, 
being  reported  abroad,  called  forth  the  virulent  animadver- 
sions of  his  enemies.  Looking  back  on  the  city,  where  all 
the  Protestant  powers  were  assembled,  he  exclaimed,  "  May 
God  fill  you  with  hatred  of  the  pope  1"  The  sentence 
indeed  sounds  harsh,  especially  in  the  form  of  a  prayer  :  but 
we  may  fairly  ask,  What  was  there  in  it  so  much  to  be  con- 
demned ?  It  surely  need  not  be  said,  that  neither  in  this, 
nor  in  other  instances  which  have  been  adduced  against  him, 
did  Luther  intend  any  thing  like  personal  hostility  to  the 
individual  who  filled  the  papal  chair,  or  to  any  other  indi- 
vidual whatever  :  he  referred  to  that  antichristian  system  of 
which  the  pope  is  the  official  head  and  representative,  and 
to  that  only.  And  does  either  piety  or  charity  require  us  to 
keep  any  measures  with  that  system  itself,  abstractedly  con- 
sidered ]  a  system  which,  laying  hold  of  God's  best  gift  to 
the  human  race,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  converted  it, 
tluougli  successive  centuries^  into  the  very  reverse  of  all  £os 


84  CHARACTER    OF    POPERY. 

which  it  was  designed  ;  making  it  the  instrument  of  dark- 
ness instead  of  light,  of  impurity  instead  of  holiness,  of 
tyranny,  both  spiritual  and  civil,  instead  of  freedom,  and 
even  of  renewed  idolatry  instead  of  the  pure  and  spiritual 
worship,  which  was  to  have  subverted  superstition  and  ban- 
ished all  false  religion  from  among  men.  Surely,  in  con- 
sistence with  the  most  perfect  good-will  even  to  its  votaries, 
we  may  desire  to  see  such  a  system  "  consumed  by  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord's  mouth,  and  destroyed  by  the  brightness  of  his 
coming."*  Yes,  whatever  indulgence  we  may  extend  to 
the  professors  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  (and  let  them 
have  every  indulgence,  every  privilege  that  they  can  enjoy 
consistently  with  the  common  safety),  yet  let  us  never  forget 
what  popery  was,  and  is  essentially  in  itself,  and  what  it  will 
ever  show  itself  to  be  in  proportion  as  it  is  enabled  to  act 
freely,  and  display  its  true  character.  It  is  one  of  the 
fashionable  and  threatening  errors  of  the  present  day,  that, 
in  our  zeal  to  show  ourselves  candid,  and  indulgent,  and 
liberal  towards  Roman  Catholics,  we  are  apt  to  soften  down 
and  lose  sight  of  the  enormities,  doctrinal  and  practical, 
of  the  papal  system.  Here  we  are  in  danger  of  realizing 
the  observation  of  the  poet : 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien 
As,  to  be  liated,  needs  but  "to  be  seen ; 
Yet,  seen  too  oft,  familiar  witli  the  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

Persecution,  it  is  true,  is  a  crime  to  which  our  fallen  nature 
is  prone,  and  into  which  almost  all  parties  have  in  different 
degrees  fallen  ;  but  let  us  not  on  that  ground,  with  affected 
philosophy,  but  with  real  indolence  and  indiscrimination, 
and  in  defiance  of  all  historic  verity,  pretend  that  popery 
stands,  in  this  respect,  on  the  same  footing  with  other  reli- 
gious systems.  No,  persecution  is  inherent  in  the  very 
principles  and  constitution  of  the  Romish  church :  she  has 
been  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  respects,  "  the  mother  of 
abominations"t  to  the  earth.  If  other  professedly  Christian 
bodies  long  retained  the  persecuting  spirit,  it  was  mainly 
because  they  found  it  so  difficult  wholly  to  eradicate  the 
seeds  of  instruction  which  they  had  received  from  her  hand  : 

*  2  Tliess.  ii,  t  Rev.  xvjj.  5- 


Luther's  alleged  conference  with  satan.  85 

and,  while  they  have  undoubtedly  been  occasionally  stained 
with  the  blood  of  those  who  dissented  from  them,  she  has 
been  even  steeped  in  it ;  in  the  strong  language  of  Scripture 
prophecy,  "  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  the  mar- 
tyrs of  Jesus."*  And  the  testimony  of  her  sanctioned  and 
remunerated  advocate  Cardinal  Pallavicini,  to  her  unaltered 
and  unalterable  adherence  to  her  principles,  however  she 
may,  from  policy  suffer  her  unaccredited  members  to  deviate 
from  them,  or  even  for  a  time  to  deny  them,  is  equally 
striking  and  true.  *'  The  whole  of  our  faith,"  he  says, 
"rests  upon  one  indivisible  article,  namely,  the  infallible 
authority  of  the  church.  The  moment,  therefore,  we  give  up 
any  fart  whatever,  the  rohole  falls  :  for  v:hat  admits  not  of 
being  divided  must  evidently  stand  entire  or  fall  entire.'*^ 

We  may  now  notice  the  works  of  Luther  published  during 
this  period. 

Near  the  end  of  the  year  1533  appeared  his  treatise  on 
Private  Masses,  a  subject  on  which  he  had  also  written 
several  years  before. t  He  here  mentions,  in  addition  to  the 
indecent  haste  with  which  the  services  were  hurried  over  at 
Rome,  having  heard  there  of  priests  who,  instead  of  the 
words  of  consecration,  muttered,  "  Panis  es,  et  panis  man- 
ebis,"  "Bread  thou  art,  and  bread  thou  shalt  continue;" 
and  of  others  who  indignantly  omitted  the  consecration  alto- 
gether. 

It  is  in  this  work  that  Luther  gives  the  account  of  his 
temptation  by  the  devil,  of  which  such  an  extraordinary  use 
has  been  made  by  his  more  bigoted  adversaries  ;  and  on 
which  even  Bossuet  is  not  ashamed  to  say,  "Forced  by 
reasons  urged  by  the  angel  of  darkness,  he  abolishes,  like  an 
impious  wretch,  that  mass  which,  if  we  may  believe  him, 
he  had  said  for  so  many  years  with  so  much  devotion." 
And  again,  "  Luther  owns,  I  do  not  Say  that  he  was  tor- 
mented by  the  devil  (which  might  be  common  to  him  with 
many  saints),  but  that  he  was  converted  by  his  agency  :  and 
that  the  spirit  of  falsehood  had  been  his  tutor  in  one  of  the 
principal  points  of  his  reformation."  The  whole  substance 
of  the  passage  however  is,  not  that  Luther  describes  a  sen- 
eible  "conference  with  the  prince  of  darkness,"  but  a  tempta- 

*  Rev  xvii.  6.  t  Vol.  i.  p.  144. 

Vol,  IL— H 


( 


86  Luther's  writings. 

tion  to  despair  pressed  upon  him  "  within  his  heart,"  and 
drawn  from  the  impieties  of  which  he  had  been  guilt)'  in  the 
unchristian  and  idolatrous  services  that  he  had  performed^ 
during  many  years,  as  a  monk.  "  You  know  that  for  fifteen 
years  together  you  celebrated  private  masses  :  what  then  if 
such  masses  were  a  horrible  idolatry  ] — Convicted  by  the 
law  of  God,"  Luther  says,  "  I  confess  before  my  adversary 
that  I  have  sinned  and  am  condemned,  like  Judas ;  but  I 
turn  me  to  Christ,  like  Peter  :  I  regard  his  infinite  merit 
and  mercy  ;  and  immediately  he  abrogates  all  my  dreadful 
condemnation."  He  treats  at  considerable  length,  and  in 
general  terms,  of  such  temptations,  in  a  strain  which  shows 
the  purport  of  the  whole  passage.  "  The  temptations  of 
Satan  are  crafty,  and  well  calculated  to  deceive.  He  lays 
hold  of  some  truth  which  cannot  be  denied,  and  yet  so  turns 
it  about  and  applies  it  that  it  might  deceive  the  most  wary. 
So  the  thought  which  seized  the  heart  of  Judas  was  true, 
'  I  betrayed  the  innocent  blood  ;'  Judas  could  not  deny  it  : 
but  the  falsehood  was  in  the  inference.  'Therefore  thou 
must  despair  of  the  m«rcy  of  God."  But  the  devil  so  pressed 
this  false  inference  home  upon  Judas,  that  he  could  not  stand 
against  it,  but  sank  into  despair."* 

This  year  Luther  also  published  sermons  on  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  from  1  Tim.  i.  5-7;  on  1  John  iv.  16,  "  God  is 
love ;"  and  on  the  apostles'  creed ;  all  which  were  highly 
esteemed.  In  the  first,  he  demonstrates  the  necessity  of 
good  works,  "  as  the  evidence  of  our  justification,  and  for 
the  comfort  of  our  own  consciences  ;"  and  also  of  faith,  "  by 
which,  embracing  the  merits  of  Christ,  we  stand  accepted 
•before  the  tribunal  of  God."  He  assigns  the  reason  why 
rhe  so  much  insisted  on  the  latter  topic — that  "  the  men  of 
^that  age  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  nothing  proclaimed 
to  them  but  '  Keep  the  commandments,'  while  no  one  taught 
i'them  hoio  they  were  to  do  it,  so  as  to  satisfy  either  God  or 
their  own  consciences."  He  urges,  besides,  how  closely 
self-righteousness  cleaves  to  the  heart  of  man.  "  I  have 
myself  taught  this  doctrine,"  he  says,  "  for  twenty  yearsy. 
both  in  my  preaching  and  in  my  writings ;  and  yet  the  old 
and  tenacious  mire  clings  to  me,  so  that  I  find  myself  want- 

*  See  this  subject  of  Luther's  alleored  "conference  with  the  deviLJ'^' 
examined  at  len^yh  in  Continuation  of  Milner  vol.  i.  p.  546-555. 


LUTHElv's    WRITINGS.  87 

in^  to  come  to  God,  bringing  something  in  my  hand  for 
which  he  should  bestow  his  grace  upon  me.  I  cannot  at- 
tain to  casting  myself  on  pure  and  simple  mercy  only  :  and 
yet  this  is  highly  necessary."  On  the  apostles'  creed,  he 
speaks  of  it  as  a  thing  "  extremely  difficult,  and  to  human 
reason  next  to  impossible,  sincerely  to  say,  '  I  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ.'  Submit  the  article  to  reason  ;  she  is  ut- 
terly confounded  by  it,  and  comes  to  regard  the  whole  as 
a  fable.  Hence  in  Italy  scarcely  any  thing  is  believed  about 
it ;  and  our  countrymen,  alas  !  have  learned  to  copy  that 
kind  of  wisdom." 

With  this  passage  we  may  connect  the  following  advice 
to  students  of  theology.  "  You  who  apply  yourselves  to 
sacred  learning,  be  admonished  above  all  things  to  settle  in 
your  minds  what  you  should  believe  as  the  truths  of  the 
Christian  religion  ;  and  have  the  articles  of  your  faith  well 
considered,  and  confirmed  by  apposite  texts  of  Scripture  : 
and  then,  when  the  devil,  or  heretics,  his  instruments,  would 
make  you  doubt  them,  oppose  to  them  those  texts,  and  leave 
them,  saying,  '  I  will  not  listen  to  your  cavils  and  specula- 
tions ;  for  thus  hath  the  Holy  Spirit  directed,  who  commands 
me  to  hearken  and  incline  mine  ear.'  The  doctrine,  that 
all  our  own  righteousness  must  be  renounced  and  our  confi- 
dence placed  only  in  Christ  and  his  righteousness,  will  ap- 
pear new  and  strange,  so  that  many  will  be  offended  at  it. 
So  also  will  the  doctrine  that  Christ  himself  is  God,  and  to 
be  worshipped  as  such.  But  in  the  way  described  I  shall 
be  assured  that  I  do  not  err  concerning  it ;  and  the  objection 
from  the  first  commandment,  and  other  scriptures  concern- 
ing the  unity  of  God,  will  be  answered.  For,  if  they  urge, 
'  You  make  more  gods  than  one  :'  I  answer,  '  I  do  not :  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  the  same  God  :  the 
substance  and  essence  are  one,  though  the  persons  are  three. 
How  the  persons  differ  I  do  not  indeed  understand  :  suffi- 
cient for  me  is  the  authority  of  Scripture,  which  names  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  last  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew.  If  I  could  comprehend  the  subject  by  my 
reason,  what  need  would  there  be  of  faith  ]  But,  if  I  will 
admit  nothing  which  by  my  reason  I  cannot  comprehend,  I 
must  soon  give  up  baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Word, 
grace,  original  sin,  and  every  thing  :  for  reason  comprehends 
none  of  these  things.'  " 


88  Luther's  writings. 

In  some  lectures  on  Isaiah,  of  the  same  date,  he  quotes, 
on  ch.  viii.  12,  the  sentiment  of  the  Elector  Frederic  on  con- 
federacies :  "  That  they  often  imboldened  the  parties  to 
attempt  things  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  ven- 
tured upon  ;  and  then,  when  difficulties  arose  they  fell  away, 
and  deserted  one  another  :  which  induced  the  Elector  to 
stand  aloof  from  them."  Again,  he  applies  the  passage 
ch.  xxix.  8,  on  "  the  hungry  man  dreaming  that  he  eateth," 
to  persecutors,  flattering  themselves  that  they  had  devoured 
and  destroyed  the  church  ;  mentioning  first  the  persecutions 
of  pagan  Rome,  and  then  those  of  Rome  papal.  "  But 
all,"  he  says,  "  is  mere  illusion :  it  is  not  devouring,  but 
only  dreaming  that  they  devour.  And  so  in  ten  years'  time 
you  shall  see  the  princes  and  bishops,  who  now  rage  against 
the  Word  of  God,  all  come  to  nothing,  and  the  gospel  and 
its  professors  in  safety."  If  not  within  ten  years,  yet  within 
twenty,  the  truth  of  both  these  passages  was  strikingly 
illustrated. 

On  ch.  xxxix  he  has  a  striking  passage  on  the  sins  and 
miseries  of  human  life.  "  The  sense  of  the  sins  with  which 
they  are  tempted  and  defiled  is  the  greatest  of  all  afflictions 
to  the  righteous.  Every  period  of  life  has  its  besetting  evils. 
In  youth  passion  domineers  ;  in  advancing  years,  covetous- 
ness  ;  and  then,  if  a  man  has  performed  his  part  well  in 
life,  in  old  age  comes  self-applause.  Every  age  also  is  ex- 
posed to  its  peculiar  outward  dangers.  Yet  even  all  tiiis 
cannot  bow  the  stubborn  neck  of  man  to  humility  and  sub- 
mission. It  is  hopeless  to  think  of  living  without  sin.  We 
must  cast  ourselves  simply  on  Christ,  and  say,  0  Lord 
Jesus,  pardon  me  !  How  often  and  how  grievously  I  have 
sinned  thou  knowest :  I  cannot  trace  it  myself." 

On  ch.  xlix.  8,  he  laments  the  conceit  and  fastidiousness 
of  the  people.  "  The  time  was,  when  I  would  have  pre- 
ferred the  right  understanding  of  a  single  Psalm  to  all  the 
riches  of  the  world.  But  the  heaven  was  then  brass  to  us, 
and  the  earth  iron.  Now,  when  the  windows  of  heaven 
have  been  opened,  we  are  grown  fastidious.  He  who  has 
once  perused  the  New  Testament  thinks  he  has  nothing 
more  to  learn.  The  Word  of  God  will  therefore  be  taken 
from  us,  and  given  to  a  nation  whom  perhaps  we  know  not." 

Here  too  again,  after  having,  in  treating  of  the  fifty-third 
chapter,  strongly  asserted  his  doctrine  concerning  justifica- 


Luther's  writings.  89 

tion,  he,  on  the  fifty-eighth,  insists  on  good  works  as  the 
evidence  of  a  justified  state  :  ''  Righteousness  shall  go  before 
thee — thy  good  works  shall  assure  thy  own  conscience.  .  . 
Thus  Peter  says  that  good  works  assure  men  of  their  call- 
ing. .  .  We  are  not  here  treating  the  question  of  justifica- 
tion." 

'  He  published  also  at  this  time  lectures  on  various  other 
parts  of  Scripture,  and  prefixed  prefaces  to  dififerent  works 
of  other  authors  ;  and  particularly,  in  the  year  1533,  to  the 
confession  of  faith  of  the  Waldenses ;  concerning  whom, 
after  inquiry,  he  had  become  satisfied  "that  they  were  not 
heretics,"  but  sound  though  imperfectly  instructed  Chris- 
tians. In  a  letter  to  Joachim  Prince  of  Anhalt,  who  was 
ill  and  depressed  in  mind,  he  recommends  cheerful  conver- 
sation with  his  pastor  Hausman,  music,  and  even  facetious 
<liscourse  :  observing  that  God  "  allowed  exhilaration  of  that 
kind  within  proper  limits,  and  would  not  be  displeased  at 
our  thus  dispelling  melancholy,  and  enjoying  the  blessings 
he  bestowed  upon  us  for  both  soul  and  body." 

In  1535  his  renewed  commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the 
Galatians  appeared.  It  is  not  "  a  new  edition"  of  his  former 
work,  but  the  substance  of  a  nevp  series  of  lectures  on  that 
part  of  Scripture.  The  account  of  it  is  to  be  considered, 
however,  as  included  in  the  notice  already  taken  of  this  im- 
portant portion  of  Luther's  writings.*  One  or  two  pas- 
sages may  here  be  added. 

On  ch.  iii.  10,  he  thus  explains  what  it  is  "to  fulfil  the 
law,"  in  the  only  sense  in  which  it  can  be  done,  or  indeed 
the  law  of  God  be  truly  obeyed  at  all,  among  sinful  men. 
"  We  must  in  the  first  place  listen  to  the  promise  which  pro- 
poses Christ  to  us.  Embracing  him,  we  receive  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  his  sake.  God  and  our  neighbour  are  then  truly 
loved,  good  works  are  performed,  the  cross  is  borne.  This 
is  truly  to  fulfil  the  law,  which  otherwise  remains  for  ever 
unfulfilled." 

*Vol.i.  p.  114-118. 

•f  Of  course,  the  term  "  fulfilling  the  law''  is  here  used  in  a  less  strict 
and  proper  sense,  not  for  the  absolute  fulfilling  of  it  in  all  its  "ex- 
ceeding breadth"  (as  it  must  be  if  we  would  he  justified  by  our  own 
obedience  to  it),  but  in  the  only  sense  in  which  it  is  ever  obeyed  by 
fallen  man. 

H3 


90  Luther's  writings. 

A  subsequent  passage  may  be  quoted  as  opposed  to  the 
notion,  to  which  fresh  currency  has  been  recently  given, 
that  we  are  first  brought,  indeed,  into  a  justified  state  by 
faith,  but  can  be  continueil  in  it  only  by  obedience.  *'  Faith 
perpetually'^''  (or  to  the  end)  "justifies  and  makes  us  alive  ; 
and  yet  it  remains  not  alone ;  that  is,  it  is  not  idle.  Not 
that  it  does  not  stand  alone  in  its  proper  province  and  office ; 
for  it  constantly  justifies  us  .  .  .  but  it  is  not  idle,  and  with- 
out charity." 

On  the  difficulty  of  treating  these  questions  rightly,  he 
says,  on  ch.  v.  13  :  "  It  is  a  nice  and  difficult  thing  to  teach, 
that  we  are  justified  without  good  works,  and  yet  to  require 
them  as  necessary.  Here,  unless  the  teachers  are  faithful 
and  w^ise  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  stewards  of  the 
mysteries  of  God,  able  *  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth,' 
faith  and  works  will  immediately  be  confounded.  Each 
topic,  both  faith  and  works,  ought  to  be  diligently  urged  and 
taught,  yet  so  that  each  may  be  kept  within  its  own  prov- 
ince." 

Speaking  of  sanctification,  he  alludes  to  his  former  views 
when  a  monk,  and  the  desire  he  then  felt  to  converse  with  a 
saint,  or  holy  person ;  figuring  to  himself  under  that  name 
a  hermit,  an  ascetic,  feeding  on  roots  :  but  he  had  since 
learned  that  the  saint  was  one  who,  being  justified  in  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  went  on  "  to  serve  God  in  his 
proper  calling  ;  through  the  Spirit  to  mortify  the  deeds  of  the 
body,  and  to  subdue  his  evil  affections  and  desires.  I  joy- 
fully, therefore,  give  thanks  to  God,"  he  says,  "  that  what  I 
desired  he  has  abundantly  granted  me,  and  that  I  see  not 
one  saint  but  many,  yea,  innumerable  saints  ;  not  such  as 
empty  sophisters  imagine,  but  such  as  Christ  and  his  apostles 
describe  ;  and  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  myself  am  one 
of  the  number."  This,  again,  may  be  opposed  to  the  abuse 
often  made  of  his  complaints  of  the  evils  existing  among  his 
own  followers. 

In  some  lectures  on  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John,  delivered 
in  the  year  1537,  he  thus  makes  the  law  our  rule  of  life. 
"  Even  the  moral  law  loses  its  power  so  far  as  this,  that  it 
cannot  condemn  those  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  are  thus 
'  delivered  from  the  curse  of  the  law.'  Yet  the  decalogue 
remains  in  force,  and  belongs  to  Christians,  that  they  may 


Luther's  writings.  91 

obey  it.  For  the  righteousness  which  the  law  requires 
is  fulfilled*  by  believers,  through  the  grace  and  assistance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  they  receive.  Hence  all  the  ex- 
hortations of  the  prophets,  and  likewise  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  to  piety  and  holiness,  are  so  many  excellent  expo- 
sitions of  the  ten  commandments." 

His  remarks  on  predestination  are  practical,  rather  than 
conformed  to  a  system.  In  a  commentary  on  Joel,  on  the 
words,  "  Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  liord  shall 
be  saved,"  he  says,  "  In  this  and  similar  sentences,  the  mercy 
of  God  is  offered  generally  to  all :  .  .  .  here  we  ought  to  rest ; 
and  believe,  since  God  sends  us  his  Word,  that  we  are  among 
the  predestinated  ;  and  then,  on  the  ground  of  this  promise, 
*  to  call  upon'  him,  and  be  assured  [in  so  doing]  of  the  sal- 
vation which  he  thus  expressly  promises."  In  a  joint  paper 
in  the  year  1536,  Luther,  I3ugenhagen,  and  Melancthon 
observe,  "We  are  not  commanded  to  inquire  whether  we 
are  elect,  but  to  believe  that  he  v/ho  perseveres  to  the  end  in 
repentance  and  faith  is  elect  and  saved."  "  This  doctrine," 
say  they,  "  is  clear,  and  does  not  make  the  fallen  secure, 
but  excites  them  to  fear  the  wrath  of  God  ;  for  it  is  most 
certain  that  God  is  offended  by  all  sins,  whether  of  the  elect 
or  the  non-elect." 

In  1537  Luther  published  a  small  piece  on  the  constitu- 
tion of  councils,  showing  what  was  necessary  to  their  free- 
dom, and  why  one  constituted  as  the  pope  would  have  it 
could  not  be  free — particularly  on  account  of  the  oaths  by 
which  all  persons  admissible  to  vote  were  bound  to  support 
to  the  utmost  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  powers  of  the 
papal  hierarchy. 

In  a  preface  to  some  expositions  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
he  expresses  his  fear  of  too  great  a  multiplication  of  books  ; 
lest,  as  fathers,  councils,  and  doctors  had  superseded  the 
apostles,  so  it  should  be  again  ;  and  he  modestly  says,  he 
"  wishes  his  own  books  to  last  only  for  the  age  in  which 
they  were  written,  and  which  they  might  serve  ;  but  that 
God  would  give  to  succeeding  ages  their  own  labourers,  as 
he  had  always  heretofore  done." 

We  will  close  these  extracts  with  the  following  pious  and 
pleasing  passage,  founded  on  Matt.  xii.  35.     "  A  corrupt 

*  See  p.  89. 


92  Luther's  writings. 

heart  turns  good  to  evil,  a  good  one  turns  even  evil  to  good. 
For  example :'  Does  a  good  man  see  a  murderer  or  a  thief^ — he 
is  moved  to  compassion  ;  pities  him,  prays  for  him,  mourns 
over  the  misery  of  man ;  admonishes  him,  reproves  him, 
does  all  he  can  to  reclaim  him.  Next,  mindful  of  human 
frailty,  he  humbly  reflects,  '  He  did  so  yesterday,  I  may  do 
it  to-day  !'  Hence,  thirdly,  he  prays  to  God  to  keep  him, 
and  praises  him  for  having  kept  him  hitherto.  So  much 
good  does  a  rightly  disposed  heart  derive  from  one  evil  seen 
in  another  person." 

The  remark  of  the  pious  and  learned  Seckendorf  on 
Luther's  expositions  of  Scripture  seems  to  be  very  just. 
"  I  do  not  deny,"  he  says,  "  that  there  are  to  be  found  at 
this  day  commentaries  on  the  sacred  writings  distinguished 
by  erudition,  eloquence,  and  deep  research  ;  but  I  confess  I 
much  doubt  whether  there  ever  existed  a  man  who  fur- 
nished, in  extemporaneous  language  (for  thus  Luther  de- 
livered his  lectures,  and  many  of  those  which  have  been 
published  were  taken  down  from  his  mouth  as  thus  deliv- 
ered), a  more  forcible  and  more  edifying  exposition  of  the 
Word  of  God.  I  would  not  indeed  undertake  to  defend  every 
phrase  or  every  opinion  which  he  uttered,  as  if  it  were  in- 
spired :  he  himself  earnestly  disclaimed  all  pretensions  to 
such  perfection :  but  I  speak  of  the  general  consistency  of 
his  expositions  with  the  analogy  of  faith,  and  of  the  heroic 
energy  of  the  language  and  the  arguments  which  he  employed : 
and  I  think  that  all  who  will  bestow  any  such  pains  as  I 
have  done  on  the  study  of  his  writings  will  agree  with  me 
in  this  sentiment."* 

*So  the  good  Elector  John  Frederic,  then  in  captivity,  says,  "My 
heart  is  deeply  affected,  my  inmost  soul  penetrated  by  Luther's  writings. 
I  derive  more  edification,  comfort,  strength,  from  a  page  of  Luther  than 
from  whole  volumes  of  other  authors." 


DEATH  OF  GEORGE  OF  SAXONY. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

DeatJi  of  George  of  Saxony^  and  Succession  of  Henry — 
Reformation  of  his  Dominions ;  and  of  the  Electorate  of 
Brandenburg — Joachim  II. — Conferences  of  Haguenau, 
WormSf  arid  Ratishon — Gropper^s  Book — Misconduct  of 
the  Landgrave — Dangerous  Illness  of  Melancthon. 

"  A  FEW  days  after  the  convention  at  Frankfort,  George 
Duke  of  Saxony  died,  and  his  death  was  an  event  of  great 
advantage  to  the  reformation.  That  prince,  the  head  of  the 
Albertine,  or  younger  branch  of  the  Saxon  family,  possessed, 
as  Marquis  of  iVlisnia  and  Thuringia,  extensive  territories, 
comprehending  Dresden,  Leipzig,  and  other  cities,  now  the 
most  considerable  in  the  electorate.  From  the  first  dawn 
of  the  reformation,  he  had  been  its  enemy  as  avowedly  as 
the  electoral  princes  were  its  protectors  ;  and  had  carried 
on  his  opposition,  not  only  with  all  the  zeal  flowing  from 
religious  prejudices,  but  with  a  virulence  inspired  by  per- 
sonal antipathy  to  Luther,  and  imbittered  by  the  domestic 
animosity  subsisting  between  him  and  the  other  branch  of 
the  family.  By  his  death  without  issue,  the  succession  fell 
to  his  brother  Henry,  whose  attachment  to  the  Protestant 
religion  surpassed,  if  possible,  that  of  his  predecessor  to 
popery.  Henry  no  sooner  took  possession  of  his  new 
dominions  than,  disregarding  a  clause  in  George's  will, 
dictated  by  his  bigotry,  whereby  he  bequeathed  all  his  do- 
minions to  the  emperor  and  the  king  of  the  Romans,  if  his 
brother  should  attempt  to  make  any  innovation  in  religion, 
he  invited  some  Protestant  divines,  and  among  them  Luther 
himself,  to  Leipzig.  By  their  advice  and  assistance,  he 
overturned  in  a  few  weeks  the  whole  system  of  ancient 
rites,  establishing  the  full  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion, 
with  the  universal  applause  of  his  subjects,  who  had  long 
wished  for  this  change,  which  the  authority  of  their  duke 
alone  had  hitherto  prevented.  This  revolution  delivered  the 
Protestants  from  the  danger  to  which  they  were  exposed  by 
having  an  inveterate  enemy  situated  in  the  middle  of  their 


94  DEATH    OF 

territories ;  and  the  territories  of  the  princes  and  cities 
attached  to  their  cause  now  extended,  in  one  great  and 
almost  unbroken  line,  from  the  shore  of  the  Bahic  to  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine." 

Such  is  the  account  given  by  Dr.  Robertson  of  the  next 
event  which  materially  advanced  the  cause  of  the  reforma- 
tion. 

During  the  lifetime  of  his  brother,  Henry  had  possessed 
little  or  nothing  beyond  the  small  territory  of  Freyburg.  In 
that  district  he  had  been  careful  to  introduce  reformation. 
He  had  however  to  encounter  the  opposition  of  his  brother 
George,  who  expostulated  with  him  as  going  contrary  to 
the  purposes,  and  even  the  promises,  which  he  had  ex- 
pressed, of  making  no  changes  till  a  council  should  have 
defined  what  reformation  ought  to  take  place,  and  by  what 
means  it  might  properly  be  effected.  He  implored  him  not 
rashly  to  adopt  a  course  of  proceeding  unworthy  of  his 
family,  and  contrary  to  his  duty  ;  not  to  listen  to  people  in 
whose  estimation  "  unbelief  was  the  only  sin  ;"  or,  while 
he  pretended  "  to  seek  the  gospel  in  barns  and  cellars,"  to 
risk  not  only  the  peace  of  his  country  but  the  salvation  of 
his  soul.  "  Did  he  plead  conscience  1  He  had  only  to  look 
to  himself,  and  not  trouble  his  mind  about  others.  I  myself,'" 
said  George,  "  if  power  in  religious  matters  had  been  as- 
signed me  by  the  Word  of  God,  or  committed  to  me  by  the 
pope  and  the  emperor,  should  long  ago  have  reformed  what 
I  considered  as  abuses  :  but,  finding  myself  possessed  of  no 
such  authority,  I  determine  to  make  no  innovations  till  a 
council  shall  direct  them."  If  Henry  would  persist,  he 
declares  that  he  should  feel  it  necessary  to  report  his  con- 
duct to  the  emperor. 

Henry,  however,  was  not  thus  to  be  satisfied  or  impeded. 
He  professed  himself  to  be  convinced  from  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures that  the  doctrines  and  practices  hitherto  received  in 
his  country  were  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  dan- 
gerous to  the  souls  of  men :  and  therefore  he  could  not  in 
conscience  postpone  a  change  till  it  should  have  been 
decreed  by  a  council.  He  would  however  deprive  no  one 
of  his  rights,  nor  impose  on  any  persons  what  might  be 
contrary  to  their  consciences ;  and  he  hoped  in  all  things 
so  to  conduct  himself  that  he  could  justify  his  proceedings 
to  the  emperor.     He  adds,  that  the  people  were  so  desirous 


GEORGE  OF  SAXONY.  95 

of  reformation  that  they  would  by  ready  to  raise  tumults 
should  he  withhold  it. 

After  the  correspondence  here  referred  to,  George  appears 
to  have  left  Henry  unmolested  in  his  proceedings  within  his 
own  small  territory ;  but  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  similar  changes  into  ducal*  Sax- 
ony after  his  own  decease.  Among  the  expedients  to  which 
he  had  recourse  for  this  purpose,  we  may  reckon  a  com- 
promise which  he  attempted,  by  proposing  a  partial  reforma- 
tion conducted  according  to  a  different  model,  and  on  this 
basis  a  reconciliation  between  the  two  parties.  When  this 
expedient  failed,  he  had  recourse  to  another,  which  must  be 
considered  as  reflecting  much  dishonour  upon  his  memory. 
He  had  one  surviving  son,  an  idiot,  who  had  been  pronounced 
incapable  of  reigning,  or  of  entering  into  any  of  the  rela- 
tions of  life.  George  however  now  determined,  according 
to  a  threat  which  he  had  some  time  before  held  out,  to  have 
him  married,  and  to  appoint  him  his  successor  Accordingly, 
he  was  married  in  January,  1539,  to  a  daughter  of  Eric, 
one  of  the  counts  of  Mansfeldt ;  but  he  died  within  a 
month.  Being  disappointed  here  also,  George's  next  step 
was  to  make  a  will,  binding  Henry,  as  the  condition  of  suc- 
ceeding him,  to  maintain  the  ancient  religion,  and  accede  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  league;  and,  in  case  of  his  failure  to 
do  this,  directing  his  own  dominions,  as  has  already  been 
stated,  to  pass  to  the  emperor  and  King  Ferdinand,  till  an 
heir  professing  the  true  religion  should  arise.  This  will  he 
produced  at  the  funeral  of  his  son,  desiring  the  confirmation 
of  it  by  his  nobles.  They,  however,  foreseeing  the  con- 
sequences of  such  a  measure,  declined  concurring  in  it 
unless  it  had  the  approbation  of  Henry  ;  which  of  course 
could  not  be  obtained.  Henry  was  next  desired  to  send 
over  immediately  some  trusty  persons  to  whom  more  ac- 
ceptable terms  might  be  proposed  :  and  he  in  consequence 
himself  set  out  for  Dresden  on  the  17th  of  April,  but  was 
met  on  the  road  by  messengers  announcing  the  death  of 
George  on  that  same  day.  George  was  sixty-eight  years  of 
age,  and  had  been  for  some  weeks  confined  to  his  bed.  The 
priest  of  Dresden,  when  George's  death  approached,  ex- 

*  By  tills  term,  though  it  may  not  be  strictly  correct,  I  would  dis- 
tinguish the  dominions  of  the  prince  who  was  simply  duke,  from  hiiw 
■who  was  also  Roman  elector  of  Saxony, 


96  SUCCESSION  OF   HENRY. 

horted  him  to  call  upon  S.  James,  whom  he  had  ever  con- 
sidered as  in  a  special  manner  his  patron  saint :  but  some 
noblemen  standing  by  repelled  the  priest,  and  exhorted  the 
duke  to  call  upon  Christ,  which,  we  are  told,  he  did  in  few 
but  emphatic  words. 

Henry  arrived  at  Dresden  the  same  evening,  and  was 
received  with  every  demonstration  of  respect  and  joy  ;  even 
those  who  during  George's  lifetime  had  declared  that  they 
would  leave  all  behind  them,  and  go  into  exile,  rather  than 
witness  any  change  of  religion,  now  vying  with  one 
another  in  their  testimonies  of  regard  for  their  new  master. 
So  great  is  the  difference  between  a  dead  prince  and  a  living 
one  ! 

Maimbourg  represents  the  change  of  religion  which 
ensued  as  rapid  indeed  :  "  At  Leipzig,  Luther  in  one  day, 
and  by  one  sermon,  turned  the  whole  city  from  Catholic  to 
Protestant  !"  And  his  remark  upon  it  is  in  all  respects 
worthy  of  its  author.  "  So  frail,"  says  he,  "  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  religion  of  these  miserable  nations,  who  are  ever 
ready  to  embrace,  not  what  may  be  pleasing  to  God,  buC 
what  may  gratify  their  princes."  Nothing  could  be  more 
contrary  to  the  fact  in  the  present  instance.  The  truth  is^ 
as  Dr.  Robertson  has  justly  stated,  the  people  "  had  long 
wished  for  this  change,  which  the  authority  of  their  duke- 
alone  had  hitherto  prevented." 

But  the  proceedings  in  this  important  case,  which  was 
big  with  great  consequences  to  Germany,  deserve  to  be  more 
particularly  related. 

Henry,  it  is  to  be  observed,  was  a  man  of  inferior  talents. 
He  was  now  also  old  and  feeble  ;  and  his  zeal  in  the  Prot- 
estant cause,  though  sincere,  can  hardly,  I  fear,  be  shown 
(notwithstanding  Dr.  Robertson's  statement)  to  have  been 
so  warm  and  persevering  as  that  of  his  predecessor  had  been 
in  the  opposite  interest.  He  had  the  wisdom,  however,  to 
place  himself  under  the  direction  of  the  elector  and  other 
able  counsellors,  and  under  their  guidance  he  at  present  pro- 
ceeded with  vigour  and  success. 

The  first  opposition  offered  to  his  designs  was  from  King 
Ferdinand,  who  urged  that  the  extension  of  the  reformation 
was  contrary  to  the  pacification  of  Nuremberg  and  the  con- 
vention of  Frankfort,  and  that  its  introduction  into  Henry's 
new  dominions  would  be  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  the 


REFORMATION  OF  DUCAL  SAXONY.      97 

Bishops  of  Misnia  and  Mersburg.  Henry  found  it  not  dif- 
ficult to  reply  to  these  arguments. 

The  Eishop  of  Misnia  himself  next  addressed  him,  depre- 
cating unlawful  and  unnecessary  innovations.  He  proposed 
to  introduce  all  proper  reformation  himself,  and  sent  to  the 
duke  by  his  dean,  Julius  Pflug  (a  name  afterward  distin- 
guished in  these  controversies),  a  sort  of  "Necessary  Erudi- 
tion of  a  Christian  Man,"  consisting  of  195  folio  pages, 
which  he  proposed  to  make  the  basis  of  reformation.  Henry 
sent  the  book  to  the  elector,  ^lesiring  his  judgment  and  that 
of  his  divines  upon  it ;  and  the  manuscript  exists  to  this 
day  at  Weimar  with  the  marginal  annotations  of  Luther, 
Melancthon,  and  Pontanus,  and  accompanied  by  a  letter  of 
considerable  length,  in  which  the  two  former,  with  Justus 
Jonas,  deliver  their  sentiments  concerning  it.  It  appears  to 
be  specious,  and  to  have  borrowed  miich  from  the  reformers, 
where  this  could  be  done  without  impugning  Romish  tenets. 
On  the  V.  hole,  however,  it  was  pronounced  unsatisfactory  and 
unsound.  Further  correspondence  follov,'ed  with  the  bishops 
both  of  Misnia  and  Mersburg,  but  without  its  having  the 
eflect  of  staying  the  proposed  reformation. 

The  elector  and  the  landgrave  lost  no  time  in  offering 
Henry  the  most  effectual  assistance  and  support  ;  and  the 
former  of  these  princes  immediately  set  out  to  visit  him, 
taking  with  him  Myconius,  the  pastor  of  Gotha.  In  an 
account  of  this  visit  written  by  himself  the  elector  mentions 
with  great  pleasure  hearing  him  and  Henry  Lindeman 
preach  to  immense  congregations  at  Annaberg,  on  the  4th 
of  May.  He  soon  after  proceeded  to  Leipzig,  accompanied 
by  Luther.  On  Whitsunday  papal  rites  were  abolished 
there  ;  Luther  preached  before  the  duke  and  the  elector  ; 
and  the  sacrament  was  administered  with  scriptural  sim- 
plicity. "  Thus,"  says  the  elector,  "  was  fulfilled  Luther's 
prediction,  uttered  many  years  before,  when  he  heard  of 
George's  increasing  severities,  '  I  shall  live  to  see  his  whole 
family  extinct,  and  to  preach  the  Word  of  God  at  Leipzig.'  " 
Luther  preached  here  repeatedly.  Justus  Jonas  also  joined 
and  assisted  him  ;  and  it  is  recorded,  that  on  their  mention- 
ing in  their  sermons  the  Divine  goodness  in  delivering  the 
place  from  papal  bondage  and  persecution,  the  audience 
"  fell  on  their  knees,  and  with  many  tears  returned  th?^»>Vg 
to  God." 

Vol.  II.-I 


98  DUCAL  SAXONY. 

Henry  caused  a  visitation  to  be  made  of  his  dominions, 
which  comprised  about  a  thousand  parishes.  It  was  con^ 
ducted  hastily,  and  no  satisfactory  provision  could  at  present 
be  made  for  the  instruction  of  the  people,  for  want  of  com- 
petent teachers  :  some  pious  ministers,  however,  were  invited 
from  the  neighbouring  countries,  and  what  was  now  done 
prepared  the  way  for  a  more  efficient  reformation  in  the 
churches  and  the  schools  soon  after,  under  the  government 
of  Henry's  sons.  Myconius  was  allowed  to  continue  his 
faithful  services  at  Leipzig  for  ^ghleen  months.  This  excel- 
lent minister,  in  the  course  of  his  correspondence,  gives  the 
elector  an  account  of  a  public  dispute  which  he  and  Cru- 
ciger  (who  had  visited  him  for  the  occasion)  had  been 
enabled  to  maintain  for  eight  hours  together,  in  support  of 
their  doctrines,  before  the  whole  university  and  a  large 
and  splendid  audience  ;  and,  as  he  trusts,  with  the  best 
effect.  The  rector  of  the  university,  and  some  masters, 
assisted  on  the  Protestant  side. — Much  room  was  given  to 
retort  upon  the  papal  clergy  the  charge  of  fickleness  which 
Maimbourg  has  groundlessly  brought  against  the  people  of 
these  parts.  Though  no  force  was  used,  they  almost  to  a 
man  acceded  to  the  new  regulations.  Among  the  leading 
dignitaries,  the  dean  alone,  Julius  Pflug,  openly  adhered  to 
the  old  system.  Cochlaeus  and  Vicelius,  whom  the  late  duke 
had  supported  as  a  sort  of  champions  in  the  papal  cause, 
withdrew  from  the  country. 

Other  important  changes  still  tending  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Protestant  religion  followed.  They  are  thus 
stated  by  Maimbourg.  "  Joachim  H.  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg, who,  after  the  example  of  his  father  Joachim,  a  zealous 
Catholic,  had  hitherto  professed  the  ancient  religion,  now 
yielded  to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  the  states  of  his  domin- 
ions, who  offered  him  as  an  indacement  the  liquidation  of 
all  his  debts  ;  and  he  made  the  same  changes  in  his  prov- 
inces as  Henry  had  made  in  his.  And  even  his  uncle 
Albert  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  though  himself  a  devoted 
Catholic,  was  compelled  to  bow  before  the  torrent  that  swept 
across  the  north  of  Germany,  and  to  allow  to  his  diocesses 
of  Magdeburg  and  Halberstadt  the  liberty  of  embracing  the 
confession  of  Augsburg." 

The  history  of  Joachim   IT.   will  be  found  interestjng» 


JOACHIM   II.    OF    BRANDENBURG  99 

The  reader  will  have  in  remembrance  the  zeal  of  his  father 
for  popery  at  the  period  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg.  It  was 
so  great  as  to  lead  him  to  carry  persecution  into  the  bosom  of 
his  own  family  ;  and  his  treatment  of  his  wife  has  been 
already  briefly  stated.*  He  had  married  Elizabeth  the 
sister  of  Christiern  II.,  the  (expelled)  King  of  Denmark, 
and  niece  of  John  Elector  of  Saxony.  She  was  inclined 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  reformers,  and  had  received  the  sacra- 
ment in  both  kinds.  Her  own  daughter,  named  also  Eliza- 
beth, was  the  person  to  discover  this  to  Joachim,  who  was 
so  incensed. that  he  confined  her  to  her  own  apartments, 
and  was  understood  to  be  taking  measures  for  her  perpetual 
imprisonment.  In  consequence  of  this  she  fled  from  Berlin, 
and  came  to  her  uncle  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  in  a  mere 
rustic  car,  and  with  only  one  female  attendant.  This  was 
in  the  year  1528.  The  elector  received  her,  and  she  con- 
tinued in  his  dominions  till  the  year  1546.  Here  she  culti- 
vated the  acquaintance  of  Luther,  and  sometimes  spent 
several  months  together  at  his  house,  deeply  engaged  in  the 
study  of  the  Word  of  God. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  daughter  who  thus  "  betrayed 
her  own  mother,"  not  indeed  "  to  death,"  but  to  bonds  or 
to  exile,  herself  within  ten  years  embraced  the  faith  she 
had,  not  in  this  instance  only  but  in  others,  laboured  "  to 
destroy  ;"  became  zealous  in  its  support ;  and  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  Erie  Duke  of  Brunswick,  effected 
the  full  reformation  of  that  duchy. 

Such  being  the  temper  and  the  principles  of  the  elder 
Joachim,  there  could  be  no  douI)t  of  the  care  which  would 
be  taken,  in  the  education  of  his  son  and  heir,  to  fix  him  in 
the  tenets  of  the  Romish  church.  This  was  made  an 
object  of  special  attention,  both  to  Joachim  himself  and  to 
his  brother  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz  ;  and,  as  if  to  render 
the  barrier  thus  placed  around  the  young  man  insurmount- 
able, he  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  inveterate  George 
of  Saxony.  An  apparently  accidental  circumstance,  how- 
ever defeated  all  these  precautions.  In  the  year  1519,  the 
younger  Joachim,  while  yet  only  a  boy  of  fourteen,  accom- 
panied his  father  to  Frankfort,  to  the  diet  which  raised 
Charles  V.  to  the  imperial  throne.     On  the  way,  at  Wittem* 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  340. 


100  JOACHIM  II., 

berg,  he  happened  to  hear  Luther  discourse  on  the  articles 
of  the  Christian  faith,  and  particularly  on  that  of  justifica- 
tion ;  and  was  much  captivated  with  him.  Thus  appears 
to  have  been  sown  in  the  mind  of  the  youth  that  seed 
which,  fostered  by  his  mother's  pious  care,  afterward 
expanded  itself;  and  to  this  occurrence,  probably,  it  may 
be  traced  that  Prussia  is  at  the  present  day  a  Protestant 
kingdom  ! 

Several  years  indeed  passed,  ,as  might  have  been  expected, 
ere  the  impression  which  had  been  made  produced  its  effects, 
and  ere  Joachim  was  brought  openly  to  avow  himself  on  the 
side  of  the  reformation.  During  the  lifetime  of  his  father, 
however,  in  the  year  1532,  while  he  was  himself  leading  the 
troops  of  Saxony  to  the  Turkish  war,  we  find  him  in  cor- 
respondence with  Luther,  and  affording  to  the  reformer 
much  satisfaction  by  the  spirit  which  he  manifested.  In 
1535  his  father  died,  and  he  succeeded  him  :  and  the  next 
year  the  landgrave  addressed  to  him  a  very  excellent  letter, 
which  we  should  have  had  greater  pleasure  in  quoting  had 
the  character  of  the  writer  been  more  consistent  vi^ith  the 
principles  he  professed.  It  was  designed  to  confirm  Joa- 
chim in  his  attachment  to  scriptural  doctrine,  and  to  excite 
him  to  a  bold  avowal  of  it.  "  You  know,"  says  the  land- 
grave, "  that  we  must  all  die,  and  that  the  time  of  our 
death  is  altogether  uncertain  :  you  know  also  the  words  of 
Christ,  '  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ]'  Many,"  he  observes,  "  and 
one  in  particular,*  would  aim  to  draw  him  away  from  the 
truth  of  the  gospel ;  but  he  trusts  he  would  stand  firm,  alike 
against  threats  and  caresses,  and  prefer  the  glory  of  God  to 
all  that  the  world  could  offer." — Still  however  Joachim  had 
not  the  courage  to  act  up  to  this  advice,  or  various  considera- 
tions restrained  and,  I  fear  we  must  say,  ensnared  him. 
From  his  accession,  indeed,  he  willingly,  connived  at  the 
introduction  of  evangelical  teachers  among  his  subjects  ; 
but  it  w^as  slowly  and  gradually  that  he  was  induced  to 
go  further.  His  brother  John,  Marquis  of  Brandenburg- 
Anspach,  outstripped  him  in  his  religious  course,  by  publicly 
establishing  the  reformation  throughout  his  territories  in 
the  year  1538.     At  length,  however,  perhaps  excited  by  his 

*  George,  the  landgrave's  father-in-law,  as  well  as  Joachim's. 


ELECTOR    OF    BRANDENBURG.  101 

brother's  example,  Joachim  adopted  more  decisive  measures, 
and  in  the  year  1539  published  such  an  ecclesiastical  regu- 
lation, both  for  doctrine  and  discipline,  as  could  scarcely 
have  been  surpassed,  especially  under  the  head  of  doctrine, 
had  Luther  himself  drawn  it  up. 

From  this  document,  a  few  passages,  bearing  especially 
upon  the  great  doctrine  of  justification,  may  deserve  to  be 
transcribed.  They  will  serve  to  show  how  uniformly  that 
doctrine,  upon  this  fundamental  point,  which  numbers  to 
the  present  day  so  much  revile,  and  numbers  more,  by  every 
refinement,  or  rather  perversion,  strive  to  evade,  was  main- 
tained by  the  reformers  of  ditterent  countries.  "  This," 
says  the  regulation,  "  is  the  chief  topic  of  all,  and  herein 
lies  the  whole  sum  of  the  gospel,  namely,  in  its  being  taught 
clearly  and  purely,  and  held  fast  even  unto  death,  in  spite 
of  all  contradiction  that  can  be  oftered  to  it,  that  we  obtain 
the  remission  of  sins,  justification,  and  final  and  eternal 
salvation,  by  the  mere  grace  of  God,  and  only  through  faith 
in  the  redemption  of  Christ,  and  by  no  worthiness,  work, 
or  desert  of  our  own."  The  necessity  of  retaining  the 
exclusive  term  only — "  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  only, 
without  our  own  works" — is  then  insisted  on  ;  and  the 
term  is  affirmed  to  be  fully  borne  out  by  the  tenor  of  scrip- 
ture, and  to  be  indispensable  to  the  purity  of  the  doctrine, 
and  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  distressed  consciences  ;  and 
"many,"  it  is  declared,  "who  now  preach  concerning  faith, 
but  avoid  this  assertion  of  its  exclusive  eflicacy,  are  to  be 
regarded  as  suspicious  and  dangerous  teachers."  The 
document  then  proceeds  to  answer  those  who  reproach,  and 
those  also  who  abuse  the  doctrine,  as  if  it  superseded  the 
necessity  of  good  works.  "  The  true  statement  is  by  no 
means  to  be  abandoned  or  obscured  on  account  of  such 
persons.  The  doctrine  of  the  divine  law  is  in  the  first 
instance  to  be  inculcated.  The  suitable  fruits  of  repi  ntance 
and  foith  are  to  be  required.  The  power  and  nature  of 
faith  are  to  be  explained,  which  are  such  that  it  cannot  exist 
in  a  heart  that  is  hard,  proud,  ungodly,  and  insensible  of  sin 
and  of  the  Divine  wrath  against  it :  for  faith  is  no  cold  and 
idle  opinion  :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  earnest,  efficacious,  and 
active  ;  so  that  the  soul  which  seriously  believes,  and  appre- 
hends first  the  anger  of  God  on  account  of.  its  sin,  and  then 
his  grace  independently  of  any  merits  of  its  own,  cannot 
13 


102  JOACHIM    II.    OF    BRANDENBURG. 

but  be  filled  with  unspeakable  joy  and  hope  and  consolation) 
derived  from  the  grace  of  God,  and  with  ardent  love  towards 
him  ;  and,  as  he  commands,  towards  its  neighbour  also. 
Hence  proceed  ail  good  works" — which  the  paper  then 
describes  in  detail.  After  having  done  this,  it  remarks  : 
"  The  term  only,  annexed  to  faith,  by  no  means  excludes 
these,  as  if  they  were  not  to  be  done  :  for  it  is  one  thing  to 
do  good  works,  and  another  to  be  saved  by  them.  They 
are  to  be  done,  but  they  avail  not  to  salvation  :  therefore 
the  Son  of  God  must  die  ;  and  to  this  point  [that  is,  to  our 
becoming  interested  in  his  salvation]  faith  alone  relates. 
We  ought  to  do  good  works  from  obedience  to  God,  for  the 
glory  of  his  name,  for  the  benetit  of  our  neighbour,  and  to 
prove  the  sincerity  of  our  faith.  For,  as  faith  soars  up- 
wards, bringing  us  into  the  favour  of  God,  so  works  descend 
downwards,  proving  us  to  be  in  his  favour.  Yet  faith  does 
not  procure  our  salvation  by  its  intrinsic  merit,  but  by 
embracing  the  Divine  promise.  Thus  we  have  righteous- 
ness before  God,  and  salvation  by  faith  only ;  but  from  this 
faith,  through  divine  grace,  good  works  do  spring." 

Of  the  importance  of  the  reformation  of  Brandenburg, 
Seckendorf  remarks,  no  one  can  doubt,  who  considers  the 
ample  extent  of  the  provinces  concerned  :  and  to  us  its 
importance  must  appear  still  more  striking,  when  we  con- 
sider that  the  electorate  of  Brandenburg  has  since  grown 
into  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
indeed,  influenced  by  the  hope  that  he  should  thus  be  en- 
abled, with  less  prejudice,  to  promote  more  extensively  the 
reformation  of  Germany  at  large,  never  acceded  to  the 
Protestant  league  ;  and  during  the  Smalkaldic  war,  and  in 
the  events  which  followed  it,  he  acted  not  a  part  which  we 
can  approve ;  but  at  this  period  he  accomplished  more  than 
Luther  conceived  would  have  been  found  practicable. 

Among  the  epistles  of  Melancthon  is  preserved  one  of 
considerable  length,  drawn  up  by  him  for  the  Elector  Joachim, 
and  addressed  to  Sigismund  King  of  Poland,  whose  daugh- 
ter Joachim  had  married  for  his  second  wife,  and  on  whom 
he  was  dependent  for  some  part  of  his  dominions.  It  is  dated 
in  October,  1539,  and  is  intended  to  explain  and  justify  the 
steps  which  the  elector  had  taken.  It  is  written  in  a  respect- 
ful and  affectionate  style,  yet  with  becoming  firmness  ;  and 
the  following  passage  exhibits  a  pleasing  picture  of  the  piety 


CONFERENCES    OF   RATISBON.  103 

of  the  elector's  retired  life.  Speaking  of  his  wife  (Sigis- 
ir.urd's  daughter),  and  of  the  happiness  he  enjo^'ed,  and 
should  ever  be  careful  to  preserve,  in  his  marriage  wiih  her, 
he  says,  "  She  knows  that  religion  is  a  matter  of  earnest 
concern  with  me,  and  that  my  mind  rbhors  all  unrighteous 
counsels.  And  as  it  is  our  mutual  desire  that  God  should 
be  glorified  in  our  connexion,  we  often  unite  in  }  if^yer,  and 
often  discourse  together  on  the  Divine  commandments,  on 
the  hope  of  eternal  life,  and  on  the  blessingrs  derived  from 
Christ." 

The  history  of  these  more  interesting  events  has  with- 
drawn our  attention  from  the  conference  which  was  to  be 
held,  in  pursuance  of  the  convention  of  Frankfort,  between 
select  persons  of  the  contending  parties  ;  who  were  to 
endeavour  to  draw  up  articles  of  accommodation  between 
them,  to  be  submitted  to  the  next  diet.  The  futility  of  all 
such  attempts  must  be  obvious  to  any  one  who  considers  the 
nature  of  their  differences,  and  that  they  stood  irreconcilably 
opposed  to  each  other  upon  such  fundamental  points,  as  the 
very  rule  by  which  controversies  were  to  be  decided,  and 
the  authority  of  the  pope  to  decide  them  in  a  summary  and 
absolute  manner.  Where  no  beneficial  result,  therefore, 
could  ensue,  the  detail  of  proceedings  would  only  be  weari- 
some, and  often  vexatious.  The  emperor,  however,  seems 
to  have  entertained  the  hope,  that  accommodation  might 
be  effected,  and  hence  to  have  sincerely  desired  the  confer- 
ence. To  the  Protestants  all  such  proceedings  were  useful, 
both  because  they  gained  them  time,  which  was  highly  for 
their  advantage,  and  also  because  they  accustomed  men  to 
see  religious  questions  brought  under  discussion,  instead 
of  being  submitted  to  the  absolute  dictation  of  an  mdividual. 
On  this  very  account  they  were  objects  of  high  offence  to 
the  court  of  Rome,  which  regarded  the  proposal  of  them  as 
little  short  of  an  act  of  treason  and  rebellion  against  the 
church.  The  opposition  of  the  pope  and  his  devcted  ad- 
herents had  the  effect  of  long  delaying  and  greatly  inter- 
rupting the  execution  of  the  proposed  measure.  A  meeting 
was  to  have  been  held  at  Nuremberg  in  August,  1539,  pre- 
paratory to  such  conference.  It  did  not,  however,  take 
place  ;  nor  does  any  thing  appear  to  have  been  done  till 
June,  1540,     Then,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Robertson,  "  in  a 


104  CONFERENCES 

diet  held  at  Haguenau,  matters  were  ripened  for  the  con- 
ference. In  another  diet  assembled  at  Worms,"  in  Decem- 
ber following,  "  the  conference  was  begun,  Melancthon  on 
the  one  side,  and  Eckius  on  the  other,  sustaining  the  prin- 
cipal part  in  the  dispute  ;  but  after  they  had  made  some 
progress,  though  without  concluding  any  thing,  it  was  sus- 
pended by  the  emperor's  command,  that  it  might  be  renewed 
with  greater  solemnity  in  his  own  presence,  in  a  diet  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  Ratisbon.  This  assembly  was  opened 
with  great  pomp,"  April  5th,  1541,  "  and  with  a  general 
expectation  that  its  proceedings  would  be  vigorous  and 
decisive.  By  the  consent  of  both  parties,  the  emperor  was 
intrusted  with  the  power  of  nominating  the  persons  who 
should  manage  the  conference,  which  it  was  agreed  should 
be  conducted,  not  in  the  form  of  a  public  disputation,  but  as 
a  friendly  scrutiny  or  examination  into  the  articles  which 
had  given  rise  to  the  present  controversies.  He  appointed 
Eckius,  Gropper,  and  Pflug,  on  the  part  of  the  Catholics  ; 
Melancthon,  Bucer,  and  Pistorius,  on  that  of  the  Protest- 
ants ;  all  men  of  distinguished  reputation  among  their  own 
adherents,  and,  except  Eckius,  all  eminent  for  moderation, 
as  well  as  desirous  of  peace." 

So  far  we  may  adopt  the  statement  of  this  accom- 
plished historian  ;  in  what  follows,  where  opinion  is  blended 
with  fact,  we  must  regard  his  representations  with  caution, 
or  even  with  distrust.  "  As  they  were  about  to  begin  their 
consultations,"  he  states,  "  the  emperor  put  into  their  hands 
a  book,  composed,  as  he  said,  by  a  learned  divine  in  the 
Low  Countries,  with  siich  extraordinary  perspicuity  and 
temper,  as,  in  his  opinion,  might  go  far  to  unite  and  com- 
prehend the  two  contending  parties.  Gropper,  a  canon 
of  Cologne,  whom  he  had  named  among  the  managers  of  the 
conference,  a  man  of  address  as  well  as  of  erudition,  was 
afterward  suspected  to  be  the  author  of  this  short  treatise. 
It  contained  positions  with  regard  to  twenty-two  of  the 
chief  articles  in  theology,  which  included  most  of  the  ques- 
tions then  agitated  in  the  controversy  between  the  Luther- 
ans and  the  Church  of  Rome.  By  ranging^  his  sentiments 
in  a  natural  order,  and  expressing  them  with  great  sim- 
plicity ;  by  employing  often  the  very  words  of  Scripture,  or 
of  the  primitive  fathers ;  by  softening  the  rigour  of  some 
opinions,  and  explaining  away  what  was  absurd  in  others ; 


OF  RATISBON.  105 

by  concessions,  sometimes  on  one  side,. and  sometimes  on 
the  other,  and  especially  by  banishing  as  much  as  possible 
scholastic  phrases,  those  words  and  terms  of  art  in  contro- 
versy which  serve  as  badges  of  distinction  to  different  sects, 
and  for  which  theologians  often  contend  more  fiercely  than 
for  opinions  themselves  ;  he  at  last  framed  his  work  in  such 
a  manner  as  promised  fairer  than  any  thing  that  had  hitherto 
been  attempted  to  compose  and  to  terminate  religious  dis- 
sensions." 

Dr.  Robertson  here  appears  to  write  in  the  character 
of  a  philosopher  and  a  statesman,  in  preference,  if  not  to  the 
disparagement  of  that  of  the  Christian  divine.  This  is  en- 
tirely to  the  taste  of  modern  times,  and  will  be  sure  to  secure 
him  the  praise  of  large  and  liberal  views,  among  those  who 
regard  a  high  sense  of  the  importance  of  revealed  truth, 
and  all  "  contending  earnestlj'^  for  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints,"  as  the  infallible  mark  of  narrow-mindedness 
and  bigotry.  Yet  it  would  not  be  eas}^,  perhaps,  to  give  a 
better  description,  couched  in  the  language  of  a  friend  to 
such  measures,  than  that  which  Dr.  R.  has  here  supplied, 
of  the  plausible  arts  by  which  attempts  have  in  all  ages 
been  made  to  fritter  away  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel, 
sometimes  one  sometimes  another,  "till  none  were  left." 
Listen  even  to  the  Unitarian  :  what  does  he  aim  at,  but 
*'  a  natural  order" — "  great  simplicity" — "  the  very  words 
of  Scripture,"  exclusively  of  all  others,  and  indeed  of  znany 
of  ihem — "  to  soften  the  rigour  of  some  opinions" — to 
''explain  away  absurdities" — to  "banish  scholastic  phrases" 
and  "  terms  of  art,"  the  "  badges  of  distinction  to  different 
sects,  for  which  theologians  often  contend  more  fiercely 
than  for  opinions  themselves" — and  thus  "  to  compose  and 
terminate  religious  dissensions  ]"  I  am  far  from  insinu- 
ating that  Dr.  R.  would  designedly  furnish  a  screen  under 
which  Socinian  errors  should  be  covertly  introduced  ;  I  am 
far  also  from  denying  that  there  are  truth  and  propriety  in 
some  of  the  suggestions  which  he  would  here  convey ;  all 
error  has  some  truth  at  the  bottom  of  it,  but  the  whole  pas- 
sage is  dangerous — from  many  writers  I  should  call  it 
insidious — and  the  more  dangerous  as  proceeding  from  so 
high  an  authority,  and  being  precisely  adapted  to  the  preju- 
dices of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  The  interests  of  divine 
truth  have  little  to  fear  from  open  opposition,  compared 


JOS  CONFERENCES 

with  what  is  to  be  apprehended  from  indifference,  and  fre- 
quently  from  plausible  but  enfeebled  statements,  which  pre- 
serve perhaps  the  form  or  the  semblance  of  sound  doctrine, 
or  what  may  be  construed  to  imply  it,  but  from  which  all 
the  force  and  spirit  of  truth  have  been  evaporated.  Grop- 
per's  book,  we  shall  find  reason  to  conclude,  was  of  this 
kind,  and  it  met  with  the  fate  which  must  ever  attend  all 
such  attempts  to  unite  what  is  irreconcilable — it  pleased 
neither  party — rather  it  much  offended  both.  It  was  in 
vain,  therefore,  that  the  emperor  laboured  to  bring  about  an 
accommodation  between  them  ;  and  the  whole  affair  issued 
in  a  temporizing  recess,  offensive  to  the  pope  from  the  pro- 
posal which  it  contained  of  referring  the  questions  at  issue 
to  a  national  synod,  or  even  to  a  diet  of  the  empire,  in  case 
a  general  council  could  not  be  held  ;  and  to  the  Protestants 
for  the  restrictions  which  it  unposed  upon  the  liberty  they 
had  previously  enjoyed.  As  the  latter  murmured  loudly 
against  it,  Charles,  unwilling  to  leave  any  seeds  of  discon- 
tent in  the  empire,  at  a  time  when  he  had  danger  to  appre- 
hend both  from  the  Turk  and  from  the  King  of  France, 
granted  them  a  private  declaration,  in  the  most  ample 
terms,  exempting  them  from  whatever  they  thought  op- 
pressive or  injurious  in  the  recess,  and  ascertaining  to  them 
the  full  possession  of  all  the  privileges  which  they  had  ever 
enjoyed. 

Before  we  take  leave  of  the  subjects  discussed  in  this  con- 
ference, we  may  observe,  that  a  stricter  discipline  appears 
to  have  prevailed  among  the  Protestants  than  either  from 
their  own  complaints  or  from  the  representations  of  their 
enemies  we  should  perhaps  have  expected.  They  wish 
their  opponents  could  witness  the  state  of  things  in  their 
churches.  "  No  one  was  admitted  to  the  holy  communion, 
till  he  had  been  examined  and  absolved  by  the  pastor  or 
deacon ;  and  in  that  way  numbers  received  instruction,  and 
many  sought  advice  in  particular  cases  ;  and  every  Sunday 
there  was  a  large  attendance  for  these  purposes.  If  any 
were  immoral,  they  were  excluded  from  the  communion, 
and  where  the  case  required,  the  pastor  admonished  the 
magistrate  of  his  duty  respecting  them.  If  any,  after  ad- 
monition, profanely  refused  to  come  to  the  sacrament,  they 
were  publicly  censured,  and  considered  as  excommunicate." 
Seckendorf  remarks,  "  These  things  deserve  to  be  notedj 


OF    RATISBOi^.  107 

in  opposition  to  tlie  difficulties  which  many,  not  only  people 
but  ministers,  urge  against  examinations  of  this  kind, 
though  their  necessity  was  thus  pubUcly  acknowledged  in 
this  diet  by  the  divines  deputed  by  so  many  princes  and 
states."  In  fact,  that  is  here  described  of  which  our  church 
laments,*  and  all  wise  and  faithful  pastors  lament,  the  loss 
to  a  considerable  degree  among  ourselves. — And,  alas  !  how 
much  has  the  practice  of  consulting  their  ministers  fallen 
into  disuse  even  among  the  more  religious  part  of  their 
flocks.  The  intercourse  between  ministers  and  their  people 
has  become,  too  frequently,  of  that  trite,  general,  and  un- 
profitable kind  which  is  almost  all  that  passes  between  the 
people  themselves.  They  have  little  to  learn,  little  to  ask 
of  us,  and  they  want  confidence  and  earnestness  of  mind  to 
ask  even  that  little  ;  and  we  ourselves,  alas  !  unduly  taken 
up  with  literature,  or  with  news,  or  with  business,  have  too 
little  to  bring  forth,  "  from  the  fulness  of  the  heart,"  for 
the  edification  of  those  with  whom  we  converse.  And  this 
is  apt  more  especially  to  be  the  case  where  religion  has 
become  familiar,  and  the  "  fervour  of  spirit"  with  which 
it  was  at  first  both  delivered  and  received  has  gradually 
worn  ofiT.  May  God,  in  his  mercy,  forbid  that  this  growing 
"  lukewarmness"  should  after  all  become  the  bane  of  religion 
in  our  highly  favoured  country,  and  particularly  in  those 
places  which  have  enjoyed  the  most  abundant  religious  ad- 
vantages !  May  we  remember,  in  a  truly  impressive  and 
efficacious  manner,  that  "  many  who  are  first  shall  be  last !" 
May  we  "  repent  and  do  our  first  works,"  that  our  "  candle* 
stick"  may  never  be  "removed  out  of  its  place  !" 

In  the  course  of  these  conferences,  when  all  hopes  of  ac- 
commodation were  wellnigh  extinguished,  the  Elector 
of  Brandenburg  and  his  brother  the  Marquis  George  pro- 
posed, and  it  was  not  doubted  with  the  privity  of  the  em-» 
peror,  that  a  deputation  should  be  sent  to  Luther,  to  solicit 
him,  if  possible,  to  point  out  some  way  in  which  they  might 
come  to  terms  of  agreement.  Prince  John  of  Anhalt,  who 
was  joined  also  by  his  brother  George,  with  one  of  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg's  counsellors,  undertook  this  em- 
bassy*  Such  a  reference,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  was  no 
Bmall  honour  to  the  Saxon  professor  5  nor  could  it  be  co»^ 

*  Coiiitninatiol:  Sr/vir.^. 


108  CONFERENCES 

strued  otherwise  than  as  placing,  after  all  that  he  had  said 
and  done,  and  all  that  had  been  said  and  done  concerning- 
him,  much  confidence  in  hid  wisdom  and  upright  intentions, 
as  well  as  acknowledging  the  great  influence  which  he  pos- 
sessed. The  united  prudence,  temper,  and  constancy 
of  Luther  on  this  occasion  are  highly  applauded  ;  but  his 
advice  led  to  no  practical  result,  as  indeed  it  was  scarcely 
possible  that  it  should  do. 

Conferences  like  those  which  were  now  carrying  on, 
where  such  important  interests  were  at  stake,  such  nice 
distinctions  to  be  made,  and  such  opposite  parties  (if  pos- 
sible) to  be  reconciled  ;  where  also  every  art  would  be  em- 
ployed to  draw  the  Protestants  into  unguarded  concession, 
and  then  to  take  advantage  of  it,  must  obviously  have  been 
very  distressing  to  those  engaged  in  them,  especially  if  they 
were  men  of  refined  minds,  tender  consciences,  and  truly 
pacilic  dispositions  ;  ail  vdiich  qualities  eminently  distin- 
gui.-^hrd  Melancthon.  Ke  was  scarcely  the  man  that  could 
be  expected  to  stand  sufficiently  firm  in  the  trying  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  now  placed.  'Nor  was  he  ade- 
qui'tply  supported  either  by  his  associates,  or  by  all  the 
leading  patrops  of  his  cause.  Both  the  landgrave  and 
the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  appear  to  have  been  disposed 
to  carr,'  concessioa  too  far.  Bucer  was  still  more  in  danger 
than  Melancthon  of  being  betrayed  into  wdiat  might  be  de- 
nominated trimming,  for  the  sake  of  peace  ;  and  accordingly 
his  conduct  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  his  friends.  Pisto- 
rius,  indeed,  Melancthoii's  other  colleague,  is  spoken  of  as 
a  "  pious,  candid,  and  firm  character  ;"  but  I  find  little  con- 
cerning the  part  which  he  took  in  these  discussions,  except 
that  he  "  concurred  v/ith  Melancthon."  The  latter  amiable 
person,  however,  though  at  first  censured  by  the  elector  for 
not  adhering  more  closely  to  the  Confession,  seems  seldom 
to  have  conducted  himself  with  greater  constancy  and  spirit 
than  at  this  time.  The  elector's  representatives  at  Ratisbon 
commended  him  highly  ;  Luther  himself  vindicated,  or  at 
least  apologized  for  him  to  the  elector,  and  the  elector  was 
afterward  induced  to  express  satisfaction  at  what  he  heard 
of  his  conduct.  He  himself  declared  that  he  would  rather 
die  th.an  compromise  the  truth  and  wound  his  own  con- 
science; and  that,  in  fact,  he  should  actually  die  of  grief 
it  he  were  to  do  so  ;  and  accordingly  we  find  the  emperor 


OF    RATISEON.  109 

offended  at  what  he  called  Melancthon's  stiffness,  which  he 
ascribed  to  the  suggestions  of  Luther.  This  induced  Me- 
lancthon  to  write  to  the  emperor  a  pretty  long  letter,  ex- 
plaining the  principles  on  which  he  felt  bound  to  act,  and 
begging,  as  the  greatest  favour  he  could  receive,  that  he 
might  be  released  from  the  task  which  had  been  imposed 
6n  him,  and  which  he  felt  to  be  one  of  oppressive  weight. 
As  is  apt,  however,  to  be  the  case  with  good  men,  ever  alive 
to  the  sense  of  their  own  failings  and  imperfections,  Melanc- 
thon  could  not  satisfy  himself :  he  confesses  his  weakness, 
and  even  supposes  himself  chastised  for  it  by  an  accident 
which  befell  him  from  the  overturning  of  the  carriage  in  which 
he  travelled  to  Ratisbon.  His  wrist  appears  to  have  been 
dislocated,  and  other  injury  sustained,  so  that  he  never  per- 
fectly recovered  the  use  of  his  right  hand.  On  this  the  good 
man  says,  "  I  am  chastened  of  God,  and  justly  suffer,  as  for 
my  other  faults,  so  particularly  for  my  undue  facility  in  suf- 
fering myself  to  be  employed  in  vain  and  foolish  schemes, 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  so  many  wise  men."  He  could 
not,  however,  but  be  conscious  of  the  difference  between 
the  spirit  which  actuated  himself  and  such  persons  as  he 
approved,  and  that  which  characterized  his  opponent 
Eckius.  He  speaks  with  grief  of  him  and  others  as  evi- 
dently not  seeking  the  truth,  nor  desiring  to  serve  the 
church,  but  only  to  gain  the  praise  of  being  subtle  dis- 
putants upon  the  .most  solemn  subjects.  "I  have  heard 
him,"  he  says,  "  vaingloriously  boasting  that  he  could 
maintain  either  side  of  the  question.  ...  I  do  not  think  any 
good  man  can  be  so  mild  and  gentle  as  to  listen  unmoved 
to  his  sophisms  and  juggling  tricks.  He  sports  with  terms 
of  the  most  serious  import,  continually  conceals  his  real 
meaning,  and  only  aims  to  embarrass  an  adversary.  There 
is  great  danger  in  encountering  sycophants  of  this  kind." 

The  firmness  and  zeal  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony  through- 
out the  whole  of  these  proceedings  were  most  conspicuous. 
"  No  one,"  said  he,  "  would  more  gladly  see  peace  estab- 
Ushed  in  Germany  than  I  should  do,  but  T  would  not  for  the 
sake  of  it  yield  any  thing  contrary  to  the  will  of  God  and 
the  dictates  of  my  own  conscience  ;  and  he,  I  trust,  will  keep 
me  free  fro^all  such  sin.  Peace  established  on  those  terms 
would  be  a  judgment  from  God,  and  would  prove  the  occa- 
sion of  irreconcilable  discord."     He  reprobated  the  coansels 

Vol.  n.— K 


no  BIGAMY    OF    THE    LANDGRAVE, 

of  those  who  "  put  religion  and  outward  peace  on  the  same 
footing,  whereas,  when  the  two  eame  in  competition,  the 
latter  ought  always  to  give  way  to  the  former."  He  looked 
with  great  jealousy  upon  a  sort  of  middle  party  which  he 
thought  was  rising  up  among  the  Protestants,  and  in  which 
he  reckoned  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  :  and  he  feared 
much  more,  he  said,  the  caresses  of  Ratisbon  than  the  seve- 
rity of  Augsburg.  He  would  have  his  representatives, 
therefore,  adhere  "  to  the  very  terms,  as  well  as  to  the  sense, 
of  the  Confession,  and  reject  all  ambiguous  language  wliich 
might  be  twisted  to  opposite  meanings." 

The  truth  of  history  requires  us  here  to  record  adiilerent 
and  very  painful  account  of  another  leading  patron  of  reform- 
ation. It  has  been  already  intimated  that,  notwithstanding 
the  zealous  support  given  to  the  sacred  cause,  even  from  an 
early  period,  by  Philip  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  the  conduct  of 
that  prince  in  private  life  was  not  consistent  with  his  reli- 
gious professions.  By  his  own  confession  it  appears,  that 
he  had  long  indulged  in  licentious  habits,  though  against  the 
most  alarming  remonstrances  of  his  own  conscience  ;  and  a 
short  time  before  the  commencement  of  the  conferences 
which  we  have  now  reviewed,  he  had  persuaded  himself  that 
the  only  remedy  to  be  found  for  his  incontinence  was  in 
marrying  another  wife,  in  addition  to  the  daughter  of  the 
late  Duke  George,  to  whom  he  had  been  for  many  years 
united,  and  who  had  brought  him  a  pretty  numerous  family 
of  children  !  Having  contrived  most  sophistically  to  satisfy 
himself  that  the  Scriptures  allowed  him  this  indulgence,  he 
resolved  upon  it,  and  sought  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  Luther, 
Melancthon,  and  Bucer,  confidentially  communicating  to  the 
two  former,  through  the  medium  of  the  latter,  the  most 
secret  grounds  of  his  proceeding.  This  was  a  step  exceed- 
ingly to  be  deprecated,  as  it  tended  to  involve  the  most 
venerable  reformers,  and  even  the  reformation  itself,  in  all 
the  scandal  of  the  landgrave's  conduct :  and  accordingly  it 
has  been  made  the  occasion  of  virulent  invective  against  both 
Protestants  and  Protestantism  at  large.  It  is  by  no  means 
necessary  to  the  defence  of  the  reforaiation,  that  we  should 
either  apologize  for  the  landgrave,  or  assert  ^e  unerring 
wisdom  of  Luther  himself;  than  whom  no  man  ever  more 
sincerely  disavowed  all  pretensions  to  infallibility  :  yet,  after 


ILLNESS    OF    MELANCTHON.  Ill 

a  careful  examination  of  the  documents  brought  forward,  I 
venture  to  affirm  that  they  by  no  means  warrant  the  charges 
and  insinuations  which  have*  been  founded  upon  them,  and 
are  in  many  respects  highly  honourable  to  the  Protestant 
divines,  even  though  we  should  allow  that  they  would  have 
done  better  in  entering  their  solemn  protest  against  the 
whole  proceeding,  and  giving  to  the  landgrave  no  further 
advice  whatever,  which  could  be  at  all  construed  into  even 
an  equivocal  sanction  of  it. 

The  landgrave  actually  -carried  his  purpose  into  effect, 
on  the  3d  of  March,  1540,  and  that  with  the  consent  of 
the  landgravine,  his  lawful  wife,  in  her  own  hand-writing 
and  attested  by  her  name  and  seal !  With  regard  to  him, 
we  must  leave  the  whole  of  his  case  to  his  Judge.  With 
respect  to  others,  so  far  was  it  from  being  true  that  "  all  the 
most  renowned  persons  connected  with  the  reformation  in 
Germany  concurred  in  this  iniquity,"*  that,  when  it  came 
to  be  known,  it  produced  the  deepest  and  most  painful  sen- 
sation, and  strong  protestations  on  the  part  of  the  elector 
and  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and 
various  others,  both  laymen  and  ecclesiastics.  The  tender 
and  conscientious  Melancthon,  in  particular,  was  so  deeply- 
affected  with  the  whole  affair,  that  his  distress  of  mind 
brought  on  an  illness  which  threatened  to  prove  fatal  to 
him. — With  this  illness  some  interesting  and  important 
occurrences  are  connected.  Melancthon  was  seized  with  it 
at  Weimar,  on  his  way  to  the  appointed  conference  at  Hague- 
nau.  When  Luther,  at  the  elector's  express  desire,  visited 
his  suffering  friend,  he  found  him  apparently  at  the  point  of 
death  :  "  his  sight  was  obscured,  his  understanding  nearly 
gone,  he  had  lost  his  hearing  and  his  speech,  he  recognised 
no  one,  and  took  no  sustenance."  Luther,  filled  with  con- 
sternation and  grief,  exclaimed,  "  Gracious  God  !  how  hath 
Satan  prevailed  to  derange  and  disfigure  this  noble  instru- 
ment of  thine !"  Then,  turning  to  the  window  (as  his 
custom  was),  he  stood  and  prayed  for  him  in  an  extraor- 
dinary tone  of  confidence  and  earnestness,  pleading  that  God 
must  indeed  hear  them  to  preserve  their  confidence  in  him 
for  the  time  to  come.  After  which,  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
he  thus  affectionately  addressed  him  :  "  My  dear  Philip,  be 

*  Bossuet. 


112  MELANCTHON    ON    LUTHER. 

of  good  cheer,  you  shall  not  die  !  Though  God  can  never 
want  sufficient  occasion  against  us,  yet  he  willeth  not  the 
death  of  a  sinner :  he  hath  pleasure  in  his  Ufe,  not  in  his 
death.  He  hath  pardoned  the  greatest  of  sinners  :  never 
assuredly  will  he  cast  you  from  his  presence,  or  suifer  you  to 
die  overwhelmed  with  sin  and  grief.  Give  not  way  to  your 
sadness,  nor  become  your  own  destroyer  ;  but  trust  in  God, 
who  is  able  to  kill  and  to  make  alive  I" — While  Luther  thus 
addressed  him,  Melancthon  began  a  little  to  revive.  Hence- 
forward he  gradually  improved  in  health,  and  was  eventually 
restored.  "  I  should  have  died,"  he  himself  afterward  said, 
"  but  for  Luther's  visit  to  me." 

In  a  will  which  he  a  short  time  before  composed  under 
symptoms  of  this  attack  of  illness  coming  on,  and  with  the 
presentiment  of  death  on  his  mind,  he  thus  speaks  of  Luther. 
"  I  return  ray  thanks  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  first 
because  from  him  I  received  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel, 
and  next  because  of  his  singular  kindness  shown  to  me  on  a 
thousand  occasions  ;  and  I  desire  my  family  to  regard  him 
as  a  father.  Having  found  him  to  be  endowed  with  a  dis- 
tinguished and  heroic  genius,  with  many  great  virtues,  and 
with  eminent  piety  and  learning,  I  have  always  honoured 
and  loved  him,  and  thought  his  friendship  worthy  of  the 
most  assiduous  cultivation."  "Such  friendships  as  I  here 
record,"  he  beautifully  adds,  "  I  am  persuaded  are  not  to  be 
extinguished  by  death,  but  will  soon  be  renewed  in  heaven, 
where  they  will  be  enjoyed  to  much  greater  advantage,  and 
yield  unspeakably  higher  delight." 


PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION.        113 


CHAPTER  XXll. 

Progress  of  the  Reformation — 'Germany — Denmark  and 
Sweden — France — Austria — Ital]/ — Luther^ s  Writing  s — 
Agricola  and  Antinomianism. ' 

Important  instances  have  recently  occurred  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  reformation  ;  others  present  themselves  to  our 
notice.  Eckius  and  Cochlesus,  in  their  correspondence  with 
Cardinal  Contarini,  bear  striking  testimony  to  the  extensive 
and  firm  establishment  which  the  new  system  had  obtained 
in  Germany.  The  former  dolefully  complains,  "That  all 
homage  was  withdrawn  from  the  saints  ;  that  the  miserable 
souls  in  purgatory  had  no  longer  any  prayers  oifered  for 
them  ;  that  the  sacred  rites  of  the  mass  were  discontinued  ; 
that  images  were  insulted  and  broken  ;  that  the  treasures 
of  the  church  were  alienated,  the  pope  and  the  priesthood 
held  in  contempt,  and  Rome  taken  for  the  Babylonish 
harlot ;  that  celibacy  was  at  an  end,  and  monastic  vows  were 
violated."  He  reproaches  the  blindness  and  inertness  of 
those  who  had  not  extinguished  the  conflagration  while  it 
was  a  mere  spark — which  was  the  case  when  he  disputed 
with  Carolstadt  and  Luther  at  Leipzig.  Even  the  German 
prelates,  he  says,  now  laughed  at  the  wide-spread  mischief, 
and  secretly  hoped  to  be  delivered  by  its  means  from  the 
exactions  and  impositions  which  they  had  suffered  from  the 
court  of  Rome. — Cochlaeus,  writing  from  Breslaw  about  the 
same  time,  says,  •'  Our  prelates  in  Germany,  whether 
through  cowardice  or  despair,  sit  still,  and  suffer  every- 
where the  curtailment  of  their  revenues.  The  Lutherans, 
on  the  contrary,  spare  neither  care,  nor  labour,  nor  expense, 
but  devise  every  means  of  establishing  their  sect.  They 
ordain  superintendents,  a  new  species  of  bishops,  to  whom 
they  give  the  power  of  ordaining  priests  and  deacons  in 
their  respective  districts.  They  diligently  train  their  youth 
in  the  schools  in  devotion  to  their  own  doctrine,  and  in 
abhorrence  of  the  papists  ;  and,  that  they  may  acquire  con- 
fidence in  preaching  to  the  people,  they  exercise  them  in 
K3 


114        PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION. 

declamations  taken  from  the  postils*  of  Luther.  They 
assign  handsome  incomes,  drawn  from  the  aboHtion  of  the 
private  masses,  to  their  ministers  and  to  schoolmasters  ;  so 
that  it  will  be  extremely  difficult  to  eradicate  from  the  minds 
of  men  the  pestilent  evil  which  has  been  implanted  at 
school,  and  cherished  in  public  assemblies,  and  by  the  reading 
of  books  at  home.  To  God,  however,  all  things  are  possible  !" 

The  discerning  reader  will  receive  these  accounts  with 
great  satisfaction,  perceiving  nothing  in  them  but  what 
bears  honourable  testimony  to  the  diligence,  the  piety,  and 
the  discretion  of  the  Protestants. 

The  reformation  of  Magdeburg  and  Halberstadt,  with  the 
connivance  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magdeburg, 
has  been  before  noticed.!  The  proceedings  at  Halle  in  the 
duchy  of  Magdeburg  are  more  particularly  recorded.  Su- 
perstition had  been  there  carried  even  beyond  the  ordinary 
limits,  and  the  accumulation  of  pretended  relics  was  im- 
mense. The  writer  of  an  account  of  Halle  states  that  there 
were  collected  in  the  churches  forty-two  entire  bodies  of 
eaints  ;  and  portions  of  others  to  the  amount  of  eight  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  thirty-three.  The  following  are  a 
few  specimens  of  the  relics.  A  portion  of  the  earth  out  of 
which  Adam  was  created  ;  fragments  of  Noah's  ark,  of  the 
bodies  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  and  of  the  Virgin 
Mary's  clothing  at  the  time  of  the  miraculous  conception  ; 
the  body  of  one  of  the  infants  slain  by  Herod,  and  those  of 
seventeen  out  of  the  eleven  thousand  virgins  whom  the 
ignorance  of  the  times  (mistaking  the  name  Undecimilla  for 
undecim  millia)  had  constituted  the  companions  of  S. 
Ursula.  Once  in  the  year  a  public  exhibition  was  made  of 
all  these  relics,  and  to  those  who  then  "  devoutly  contem- 
plated them,  offering  at  the  same  time  prayers  to  God,  and 
giving  money  to  the  collegiate  church,"  indulgences  were 
granted  extending  to  many  thousands  and  millions  "  of  years 
and  days."  The  very  indefinite  and  nullifying  clause,  how- 
ever, was  added,  that  those  persons  should  have  the  benefit 
of  these  indulgences  "  who  were  found  worthy  to  enjoy 
it!" — As  early  as  the  year  1523,  the  head  of  a  'monastery, 
named  Nicholas  Demuth,  encouraged  the  introduction  of 
evangelical  truth  at  Halle  :  and  in  1537  George  Winckler 

*  Expositions  of  the  gospel  and  epistles.  t  See  p.  98. 


GERMANY.  115 

boldly  preached  it,  though  he  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  life  for 
so  doing.  The  inhabitants  subsequently  importuned  the 
archbishop,  "  on  their  knees,"  to  allow  them  the  liberty  of 
hearing  the  Word  of  God  ;  but  without  success.  At  length, 
in  1541,  they  took  the  liberty  of  themselves  inviting  Justus 
Jonas  from  Wittemberg  ;  who  became  their  superintendent. 
His  labours  were  successful,  and  the  Protestant  faith  ob- 
tained a  permanent  settlement  at  Halle. 

About  the  same  time  the  reformation  was  publicly  estab- 
lished in  the  cities  of  Ratisbon  and  Hildesheim.  In  each 
place  opposition  was  made  by  the  bishop  and  clergy,  but 
they  were  unable  to  withstand  the  tide  of  public  opinion. 

But  the  palatinate  of  Bavaria  was  a  still  more  important 
accession  to  the  Protestant  cause.  It  was  at  this  time  under 
the  government  of  Otho  Henry,  a  younger  member  of  the 
Bavarian  family ;  who  afterward  succeeded  to  the  elector- 
ate, which  is  connected  with  the  palatinate  of  the  Rhine. 
This  prince  had  for  some  years  favoured  the  Protestant 
principles,  but  he  seems  to  have  waited  for  that  more  general 
reformation  of  the  church  which  he  and  many  others  had 
hoped  might  be  effected  by  a  council.  Seeing,  however, 
less  and  less  prospect  of  so  desirable  an  event,  he  now  avowed 
himself,  and,  with  the  advice  of  his  chaplain,  Michael 
Diller,  formerly  an  Augustinian  monk,  and  of  Osiander  from 
Nuremberg,  introduced  the  reformation  throughout  his  terri* 
tories. 

Events  at  this  time  occurred  also  in  the  bishopric  of 
Naumberg,  in  Thuringia,  which  tended  to  confirm  and  per- 
fect the  reformation  in  that  diocess  :  and,  after  some  dis- 
putes, Amsdorf,  a  friend  of  Luther's,  was  advanced  to  the 
bishopric,  on  the  nomination  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  to 
the  exclusion  of  Julius  Pflug,  who  had  been  hastily  and 
irregularly  elected  by  the  chapter.  Amsdorf  was  a  man  of 
family,  and  had  now  been  for  eighteen  years  superintend- 
ent of  Magdeburg. 

The  elector  in  this  instance  was  disposed  to  outstrip  the 
zeal  of  his  divines.  He  proposed  to  appoint  a  bishop 
deprived  of  all  the  civil  authority  which  his  predecessors 
had  exercised,  and  to  suppress  the  canons  and  cathedral 
clergy  altogether.  Luther  and  others,  however,  dissuaded 
him  from  such  measures,  pointing  out  several  things  of  an 
external  nature  which  were   best  administered  where  such 


116  PROGRESS  OF    REFORMATION. 

officers  existed ;  and  also  the  inconveniences  which  had 
arisen  from  destro3dng  the  connexion  of  superior  families 
with  the  church,  and  thus  removing  the  stimulus  afforded  to 
the  cultivation  of  learning  among  persons  of  rank. 

The  Protestants  at  this  period  had  much  confidence  in  the 
King  of  Denmark  ;  but  some  distrust,  it  appears,  had  grown 
up  among  them  of  the  King  of  Sweden.  The  same  illus- 
trious prince,  Gustavus  Vasa,  who  had  in  so  vigorous  and 
decisive  a  manner  introduced  the  reformation  into  Sweden 
nearly  twenty  years  before,*  still  reigned  over  that  country  ; 
and  Luther  on  this  occasion  undertook  to  write  to  him, 
exhorting  him  to  constancy  in  the  true  doctrine,  and  to  good 
understanding  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  other 
Protestant  confederates.  Gustavus  replied  to  Luther  in  terms 
of  respect  and  affection.  The  fact,  he  said,  had  been,  that 
his  advances  had  met  with  apparent  neglect,  and  he  thought  it 
not  therefore  becoming  his  dignity  to  repeat  them.  It  would 
be  very  acceptable  to  him,  however,  if  through  Luther's 
means  any  arrangement  could  be  made  between  him  and 
the  confederate  princes,  conducive  to  the  honour  of  God,  the 
maintenance  of  divine  truth  in  his  dominions,  and  the  best 
interests  of  his  family  and  successors. — In  consequence  a 
correspondence  was  opened,  in  the  course  of  which  Gustavus 
wrote  to  the  elector  and  the  landgrave  in  the  pious  strain  of 
which  the  following  extract  furnishes  a  specimen.  "  No- 
thing," he  says,  "  could  be  more  to  his  heart's  desire  than 
that,  through  the  Divine  illumination,  and  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  preaching  of  the  pure  and  saving  Word 
of  God  should  become  universal,  and  be  crowned  with  the 
greatest  success  :  that  he  himself,  as  a  Christian  prince,  and 
a  member  of  the  catholic  church,  had  taken  earnest  care  to 
promote  this  object  in  his  kingdom  ;  and  he  doubted  not  but 
God  would  protect  his  work  against  all  adversaries:  as, 
however,  both  force  and  fraud  were  to  be  apprehended,  he 
conceived  it  to  be  just,  pious,  and  Christian  to  enter 
into  alliance  for  the  defence  of  their  religion  ;  and  therefore, 
at  the  instance  of  his  brother  and  neighbour  Christiern 
King  of  Denmark,  he  professed  himself  ready  to  treat  with 
the  German  princes  upon  that  subject."  It  is  gratifying  to 
trace  such  marks  of  ingenuous  piety  and  zeal  for  rehgion  in 

*  Vol.  i.  20:-206. 


DENMARK SWEDEN FRANCE.  117 

a  man  on  other  grounds  eminently  distinguished  as  a  patriot 
and  a  hero.  The  result  was  his  association  in  the  Protest- 
ant league. 

In  other  places,  reformation  was  desired  and  attempted ; 
but  without  success,  or  even  with  a  calamitous  issue. 
The  latter  was  particularly  the  case  at  Metz,  at  that  time  a 
free  imperial  city,  though  since  united  to  France.  Num- 
bers of  the  citizens,  and  not  a  few  of  the  senate,  were 
attached  to  evangelical  doctrine  as  now  preached  to  them 
by  William  Farel,  a  Frenchman,  who  had  been  eminently 
useful  in  the  reformation  of  Switzerland  ;  and  considerable 
hopes  were  entertained  that  Protestantism  might  here  obtain 
an  establishment,  and  thence  spread  into  Lorrain  and  the 
neighbouring  parts  of  France.  The  reformed  party  applied 
to  the  Protestant  league  to  be  taken  under  their  protection : 
but  the  elector  doubted  how  far  it  would  consist  with  their 
engagements  to  the  emperor  to  accede  to  this  request ;  and 
Luther  and  Melancthon  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  it  was 
in  itself  unwarrantable  to  undertake  the  support  of  a 
minority,  who  could  be  considered  but  as  private  individuals, 
against  the  governing  powers  of  their  own  state.  They 
had  great  apprehensions  also  that  it  might  in  this  case 
prove  as  inexpedient  as  it  would  be  improper.  Here  again 
we  have  an  instance  of  the  strictly  correct  limits  within 
which  the  Protestants  confined  their  justification  of  resist- 
ance, in  the  defence  of  their  religion.  They  interposed, 
however,  their  good  offices  in  behalf  of  their  brethren  at 
Metz,  by  an  embassy  to  the  senate,  through  which  they  par- 
ticularly urged  that  one  parish  church  in  the  city  should 
be  granted  for  the  use  of  the  friends  of  reformation  ;  and 
this  the  senate  promised.  But  the  whole  business  was 
shortly  after  terminated  by  a  transaction  of  the  most  dis- 
graceful nature.  The  Bishop  of  Metz,  Cardinal  of  Lorrain, 
violently  opposed  all  reformation,  and  restrained  all  public 
preaching  in  the  city.  In  consequence,  the  citizens  in 
great  numbers  went  out  to  hear  preachers  in  country 
places,  who  were  supported  by  the  more  opulent  friends  of 
the  reformation.  On  Easter  Sunday,  1.543,  about  two 
hundred  persons,  men  and  women,  had  thus  resorted  to 
Gorsa,  a  castle  belonging  to  Count  Furstenburgh,  to  hear 
Farel  and  receive  the  sacrament  from  his  hands.  While 
they  were  afterward  at  dinner,  a  son  of  the  Duke  of  Guise, 


118        PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION. 

who  was  related  to  the  Bishop  of  Metz,  and  commanded  a 
troop  of  horse  in  the  neighbourhood,  fell  upon  them  with  his 
soldiers,  massacred  many  of  them,  drove  others  into  the 
Moselle,  and  treated  the  women  with  the  most  brutal  bar- 
barity. The  Protestant  princes  remonstrated  with  the 
King  of  France  upon  this  atrocious  proceeding  ;  but  obtained 
nothing  in  reply  beyond  courteous  words  and  a  disavowal 
of  the  step  taken  by  Guise,  with  an  attempt  to  give  another 
colour  to  the  transaction.  The  emperor  also  connived  at  it ; 
and  no  redress  was  obtained.  Soon  after,  the  senate  of 
Metz,  with  Charles's  concurrence,  utterly  prohibited  the 
reformed  doctrine,  drove  many  into  exile  who  professed  it, 
and  required  all  books  which  taught  it  to  be  delivered  up 
under  pain  of  heavy  penalties  Such  were  the  worthy 
measures  whereby  the  kingdom  of  darkness  and  sin  was 
supported,  by  a  party  which  spares  no  invective,  no  misrep- 
resentation against  the  peaceable  Protestants,  when  any 
thing  occurs  on  their  side  which  can  be  distorted  into  an 
appearance  of  hardship  or  persecution. 

We  have  before  seen  that  a  strong  feeling  in  favour  of 
reformation  existed  in  Austria.*  It  manifested  itself  at  the 
present  time  in  a  very  remarkable  public  document.  "  The 
nobles  of  Austria"  took  occasion  from  the  late  calamities 
suffered  from  the  Turkg,  to  present  to  King  Ferdinand,  in  a 
convention  of  the  states  held  at  Prague,  a  petition  in 
which  they  deplored  the  state  of  the  public,  and  their  own 
sad  condition,  who  had  a  victorious  and  cruel  enemy  for  so 
near  a  neighbour ;  it  was  high  time,  therefore,  they  urged, 
to  look  out  for  remedies  ;  and  "  especially  that  the  wrath 
of  God  might  be  appeased,  which,  being  provoked  by  the 
sins  of  men,  brought  such  judgments  upon  them."  They 
set  forth  the  evils  that  prevailed  ;  that  all  discipline,  pubhc 
and  private,  was  at  an  end  ;  but  that  "  the  contempt  of  the 
Word  of  God  was  the  chief  cause  of  all."  From  both 
sacred  and  profane  history  they  showed  that  God  "  had 
many  times  severely  punished  the  most  flourishing  king- 
doms for  false  worship  and  the  contempt  of  his  Word." 
They  pointed  out  the  formidable  indications  which  appeared 
of  like  evils  coming  upon  themselves ;  and  proceeded : 
ti  Truly  we  know  no  other  remedy,   most  dread  sovereign, 

*  See  p.  51,65. 


AUSTRIA,  119 

than  that  the  word  of  God  be  purely  taught,  and  the  people 
stirred  up  to  amendment  of  life  ;  for  in  the  true  worship- 
ping of  God  all  our  safety  consists."  Adverting  to  the 
points  which  had  been  agreed  upon,  and  to  the  injunctions 
given  at  Ratisbon  to  the  bishops  to  reform  the  abuses  in  their 
churches,  they  add,  "  Wherefore  we  humbly  beseech  your 
majesty  to  give  command  that  the  gospel  be  truly  taught, 
especially  that  point  of  doctrine  which  relates  to  justifica- 
tion— that  our  sins  are  pardoned  through  Christ  alone ;  in 
the  next  place,  that  men  be  exhorted  to  the  practice  of  charity 
and  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits  and  evidences  of  faith  ; 
that  they  be  made  afraid  of  sin  ; .  .  .  that  those  who  desire 
it  be  permitted  to  have  the  Lord's  Supper  administered  to 
them  according  to  the  custom  of  the  primitive  church  ;  that 
the  bishops  be  required  to  reform  abuses,  and  to  appoint  able 
ministers  to  instruct  the  people,  and  not  to  turn  out  sound 
preachers,  as  they  have  hitherto  done."  Many  churches, 
they  stated,  "  were  now  altogether  destitute  ;*  whence  it 
came  to  pass,  that  the  common  sort  of  people  were  with  diffi- 
culty kept  from  wholly  degenerating  into  paganism."  "We 
therefore,"  they  conclude,  "  humbly  pray  your  majesty  not  to 
be  wanting  to  us  in  so  pious  and  necessary  a  cause.  And 
let  not  your  majesty  think  that  we  so  importunately  beg  this, 
that  we  may  thereby  have  greater  liberty,  or  because  we  are 
given  to  change  :  for  we  acknowledge  that  our  salvation 
rests  only  upon  Christ ;  that  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  is 
to  be  adorned  with  holiness  of  living ;  and  that  we  are 
bound  to  obey  and  serve  your  majesty  with  our  lives  and 
fortunes."  This  petition  was  presented,  in  the  name  of  the 
nobility  and  states  of  Austria,  by  twenty- four  noblemen,  and 
the  deputies  often  cities,  (among  which  was  Vienna),  besides 
their  neighbours  of  Stiria  and  Carniola,  who  united  with 
them. 

Ferdinand,  in  the  style  with  which  statesmen  are  familiar, 
condoled  with  them  under  the  evils  which  they  lamented, 
and  which  caused  him  extreme  grief;  protested  the  deep 
interest  which  he  took,  and  had  manifested  in  the  cause  of 
religion  ;  and  declared  that  no  due  admonition,  on  his  part, 
should  be  wanting  to  churchmen.  He  still  hoped,  he  told 
them,,  for  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  existing  differences  : 

*  See  p.  65. 


120       PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION. 

in  the  mean  time,  they  must  "  submissively  wait,  and  with- 
out attempting  any  change  or  innovation,  follow  the  foot- 
steps of  their  forefathers,  walking  in  the  old  way  of  their 
religion,  as  well  as  of  civil  duty  and  obedience.  As  to  the 
decree  of  Ratisbon,  they  must  not  imagine  that  it  in  any 
way  concerned  them  ;  the  intent  of  it  being  only  that  the 
Catholics  should  continue  in  the  old  religion,  and  the  Prot- 
estants in  that  which  they  followed  at  the  time  of  the  accom- 
modation, till  a  final  arrangement  should  be  made  :  and,  this 
being  the  case,  he  could  not  allow  his  people  to  act  in  any 
other  way." 

This  answer  being  received,  the  petition  was  in  substance 
renewed,  though  in  few  words;  with  the  observation,  that 
unless  the  object  aimed  at  were  granted,  victory  and  good 
success  against  the  Turks  could  not  be  hoped  for.  England 
could  not  at  this  period  have  furnished  a  proceeding  com- 
parable to  the  petition  of  "  the  nobles  of  Austria  :"  yet  what 
is  the  religious  state  of  blinded  and  bigoted  Austria  at  this 
day,  and  what,  as  contrasted  with  it,  has  been  that  of  Great 
Britain  almost  from  that  era  to  the  present  time  ! 

Venice  is  spoken  of  as  a  place  which  waited  the  result  of 
the  proceedings  at  Ratisbon,  and  was  ready  to  receive  the 
reformation,  if  the  conferences  and  negotiations  there  had  a 
favourable  issue.  Near  the  close  of  the  year  1542  an  inter- 
esting correspondence  was  opened  between  that  city  and 
Luther.  A  long  and  eloquent  letter  is  preserved,  addressed 
to  him  in  the  name  of  "  the  brethren  of  the  church  of  Ven* 
ice,  Vicenza,  and  Treviso,"  by  Baldassare  Altieri,  an 
Italian,  acting  as  secretary  to  the  English  envoy.  It  breathes 
much  pious  affection,  earnest  desire  after  pure  religion,  con- 
stancy amid  persecutions,  and  high  veneration  for  Luther, 
whom  the  persons  concerned  regard  as  "  their  spiritual 
father."  It  apologizes  for  their  having  so  long  neglected  to 
acknowledge  to  Luther  the  great  obligations  which  they 
owed  to  him — a  sort  of  communication  which  would  have 
proved  consolatory  to  both  parties  on  account  of  their  com- 
mon faith  ;  complains  of  the  exile,  imprisonment,  and  various 
species  of  persecution  to  which  they  were  exposed,  as  re- 
siding so  near  the  seat  of  Antichrist ;  and  entreats  the  inter- 
position of  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany  with  the 
senate  of  Venice  on  their  behalf:  adverts  to  the  discord 
concerning  the  sacrament,  which  had  been  productive  of  very 


ITALY.  121 

painful  consequences  even  among  thevi ;  as  also  to  the  injury 
they  suffered  from  heady  and  high-minded,  but  incompetent 
teachers  ;  and  implores  advice  and  assistance  on  these  and 
other  points.* 

Luther's  answer  is  remarkable  and  very  interesting.!  "  I 
find  in  you,"  he  says,  "  such  and  so  great  gifts  of  God's 
prevenient  grace,  that  I  feel  ashamed  of  myself,  who,  after 
being  so  many  years  conversant  in  the  Word  of  God,  am 
conscious  that  I  fall  far  short  of  the  spirit  which  actuates 
you.  I  am  sensible  that,  what  you  in  your  candour  and 
affection  attribute  to  me  I  do  not  deserve.  I  really  am  much 
below  the  opinion  you  form  of  me.  I  am  a  sinful  man  ; 
though  one  whom  God  has  called  out  of  the  deepest  dark- 
ness into  his  marvellous  light,  and,  unfit  and  unworthy  as  I 
am  of  it,  has  committed  to  me  so  great  and  weighty  a  minis- 
try. I  rejoice  exceedingly,  and  heartily  congratulate  you, 
and  bless  God  the  Father  of  all  grace  and  heavenly  benedic- 
tion, that  whether  by  means  of  my  writings  or  those  of 
others,  he  has  made  known  to  you  the  saving  and  unspeak- 
able mystery  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  From  me  indeed, 
directly  at  least,  you  can  have  derived  but  little,  since  I  have 
but  seldom  written  in  Latin,  and  have  small  pretensions  in 
that  way.  But  through  what  channel  you  have  derived  the 
blessing  is  of  little  consequence  :  God  is  the  source  of  all, 
both  to  you  and  to  us  :  to  him  be  praise  and  glory  :  Amen  !" 
He  proceeds  :  "  I  have  been  ready  to  abstain  from  answer- 
ing your  letter,  seeing  nothing  that  I  had  to  say  worth 
writing  to  persons  whom  God  had  prevented  with  so  rich 
gifts  of  his  Spirit.  For  what  spiritual  good  can  be  wantintr 
to  those  who  know  and  confess  Christ  the  Son  of  God  ;  who 
so  ardently  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  ;  who  are 
so  happy  as  to  suffer  for  Christ  in  the  manner  you  do  ;  and 
who  hold  Antichrist  and  all  the  enemies  of  our  Divine  Mas- 
ter in  such  utter  abhorrence  ]  Who  could  have  hoped  for 
such  things  from  people  living  in  Italy  itself,  the  very  domain 
of  Antichrist — who  would  not  willingly  tolerate  you  even  if 
you  were  placed  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  world  itself. 
But,  by  such  examples,  He  who  is  '  able  to  do  above  all  we 

*The  devoted  character  of  Altieri,  and  the  high  literary  attainments 
of  the  Italian  friends  of  the  reformation,  have  been  strikingly  illustrated 
by  Dr.  M'Crie.     Eef.  in  Italy,  lb27. 

t  It  was  supposed  by  Seckendorf  to  be  lost,  but  it  has  since  come  to  light. 
Vol.  IL— L 


122        PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION. 

ask  or  think'  bids  us  ask  and  confidently  expect  of  him,  that 
he  will  accomplish  the  work  which  he  has  begun  in  you. 
That  I  may  not  however  disappoint  or  grieve  you,  I  will  cast 
myself  on  your  candour  and  kindness,  and  write  you  such 
an  answer  as  I  am  able."  Concerning  the  sciolists  and 
prophets  that  "  ran  without  being  sent,"  of  whom  they  com- 
plained, he  says  he  could  easily  believe  what  they  stated  ; 
for  such  persons  had  given  him  more  trouble  than  Antichrist 
himself  had  done.  "  Our  churches,"  he  says,  "  are  at  peace  : 
through  the  grace  of  God,  sound  doctrine,  the  right  use  of 
the  sacraments,  and  learned  and  faithful  pastors  are  every- 
where found  among  them.  But  the  proper  fruit  of  the 
Word  is  not  equally  apparent.  The  hearts  of  the  people  are 
cold  ;  and  many  abuse  spiritual  liberty  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  lukewarmness  and  carnal  security.*  May  the  Lord 
Christ  increase  in  you  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit?  May  he  cor- 
rect and  perfect  all  things  among  us,  and  hasten  the  day  of 
our  redemption  !  The  world,  the  Turk,  and  the  pope  rage 
in  blasphemies  against  the  Lord,  lay  waste  his  kingdom, 
and  mock  at  his  will.  Yet  they  riot  in  abundance,  and 
starve  the  famished  meml)ers  of  Christ.  But  greater  and 
mightier  is  '  He  that  is  in  us,  than  he  that  is  in  the  world.' 
He  triumphs  and  will  triiunph  in  you  even  unto  the  end. 
May  he  comfort  you  by  his  Spirit,  by  which  he  hath  called 
you  into  the  union  of  his  mystical  body  I  We  cease  not  to 
give  thanks  for  you,  and  have  no  doubt  that  you  do  the  same 
for  us."  With  respect  to  books  (a  subject  which  they  had 
mentioned  to  him),  he  says,  "  I  hope  you  have  Melanc- 
thon's  commonplaces,  and  what  he  has  written  on  Romans, 
Daniel,  and  some  other  books  of  Scripture.  Of  mine, 
scarcely  any  are  in  Latin,  except  my  exposition  of  Galatians, 
which  was  taken  down  by  the  hands  of  others.  Those  in 
German  are  of  no  use  to  you.  Farewell  in  the  Lord !" 
He  concludes — "  Respectfully  and  affectionately  salute  all 
the  brethren  in  the  Lord,  and  commend  me  to  their  prayers, 
that  the  Lord  may  in  a  happy  hour  take  me  to  himself.  I 
am  weary  of  living :  I  have  lived  long  enough  ;  and  have 
seen  greater  things  effected  all  around  than  any  one  could 
have  hoped  for  when  I  first  assailed  indulgences,  with  much 
more  caution  and  respect  than  they  deserved.     Blessed  be 

*  How  descriptive  of  our  own  state  I 


Luther's  writings.  123 

God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  '  only  doeth 
wondrous  things !'     Amen." 

From  this  letter  of  Luther's  to  the  Venetians  we  may 
again  pass  to  a  brief  notice  of  the  principal  works  published 
by  him  about  this  period. 

One  was  on  the  nature,  powers,  and  uses  of  general  coun- 
cils. On  the  legitimate  powers  of  a  council  he  lays  down, 
what  will  appear  very  obvious  to  us,  though  it  would  not  be 
so  to  the  people  of  that  age,  that  it  "  could  not  make  any 
article  of  faith,  or  enjoin  any  new  duty,  or  render  novel 
ceremonies  binding  on  men's  consciences  :  neither  had  it  a 
right  to  intermeddle  with  civil  government,  or  to  make 
canons  for  the  aggrandizement  of  its  own  members  :  on  the 
contrary,  it  ought  to  see  that  all  innovations  in  doctrine,  repug- 
nant to  the  holy  Scriptures,  with  all  superstitious  or  unprofit- 
able ceremonies,  were  condemned  and  removed  ;  and  always 
to  make  Scripture  the  rule  for  the  determination  of  contro- 
versies."    This  work  was  highly  offensive  to  the  Romanists. 

In  an  exposition  of  the  cxth  Psalm  he  pronounces  a  strong 
sentence  upon  the  schemes  of  those  who  thought  that  the 
differences  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Protestants 
might  be  made  up  by  compromise  and  mutual  concession. 
"  Let  them  go  on  :  we  shall  not  envy  the  success  of  their 
labours  :  they  will  be  the  first  who  could  ever  convert  the 
devil,  and  reconcile  him  to  Christ.  In  things  which  are  in 
our  power,  in  ceremonies  and  externals,  we  may  lawfully 
seek  agreement  in  this  way  ;  but  not  in  things  pertaining  to 
the  faith  and  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  sceptre  of  the  Lord, 
the  rule  of  faith  and  of  practice,  admits  of  no  bending  and 
joining,  but  must  remain  straight  and  unchanged," 

On  the  subject  of  defence,  or  resistance,  which  was 
much  discussed  in  a  meeting  of  the  allies  at  Frankfort,  his 
mind  seems  now  to  have  been  fully  made  up,  and  upon  very 
solid  grounds.  "  It  is  the  duty,"  he  says,  "  of  every  prince 
to  promote  the  exercise  of  true  religion  in  his  dominions, 
and  to  protect  it  against  external  violence.  This  defence  is 
authorized  both  by  the  Divine  law  and  by  that  of  nature, 
against  all  persons  of  only  equal  authority  ;  and,  even  if  the 
name  of  the  emperor  and  the  recesses  of  the  diet  be  alleged, 
these  are  invalid  from  the  defect  of  consent,  and  the  protests 
and  appeals  lodged  against  them.     The  emperor  is  not  an 


124  Luther's  writings. 

absolute  monarch  :  power  over  religion  can  never  belong  to 
him,  seeing  he  cannot  exercise  even  political  power,  except 
with  certain  forms,  and  the  consent  of  the  princes."  He 
still  however  limits  resistance  strictly  to  defence  when  at- 
tacked :  he  would  have  no  anticipation  of  aggression. 

A  letter  is  preserved  among  his  German  works,  which  he 
addressed,  in  conjunction  with  Bugenhagen,  Jonas,  Melanc- 
thon,  and  Cruciger,  to  the  senate  of  Nuremberg,  concerning 
a  general  form  of  absolution  used,  after  the  sermon,  in  the 
Protestant  churches.  Osiander  objected  to  it,  on  the  ground 
that  there  were  many  in  the  congregation  not  prepared  for 
absolution.  Luther  and  his  friends  thought  the  form  un- 
objectionable ;  but  advised  that,  if  Osiander  felt  scruples,  he 
should  be  allowed  to  omit  it,  without  either  censuring  those 
who  used  it,  or  being  censured  by  them.  Had  this  truly 
wise  and  charitable  way  of  healing  differences,  in  things  not 
essential,  been  generally  adopted,  how  much  would  the  peace, 
and  even  the  uniformity,  of  the  church  have  been  promoted  ! 
many  are  the  subjects  of  discord  which  would  have  thus 
dropped  silently  into  oblivion,  while  injunction  or  prohibition 
has  now  given  them  perpetuity. 

In  some  very  pious  and  edifying  lectures  on  the  "  Psalms 
of  Degrees" — (cxx.-cxxxiv.),  he  commends  earnestly  the 
study  and  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  he  con- 
siders as  the  special  service  and  offering  that  God  now 
required  of  his  ministers.  He  warns  the  people  against 
fastidiousness,  conceit,  and  a  want  of  relish  for  the  Divine 
Word — "  a  disease,"  he  says,  "  which  too  naturally  grows 
up  in  us,  and  is  more  dangerous  in  proportion  as  it  is  apt  to 
be  unobserved.  But  Satan  has  assuredly  gained  a  victory 
when  we  begin  to  slumber,  to  be  secure,  and  to  feel  satiated." 

The  following  passage  is  beautifully  expressive  of  that 
simplicity  of  taste  for  divine  truth  which  is  a  strong  mark 
of  advancement  in  wisdom  and  in  grace.  *'  I  am  a  professed 
divine,  who,  amid  various  dangers,  have  attained  some 
moderate  experience  and  skill  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  :  but 
this  does  not  prevent  my  having  daily  recourse  to  the  cate- 
chism, to  the  creed,  the  decalogue,  and  the  Lord's  prayer. 
I  rehearse  them  to  myself  with  a  close  consideration  of 
every  word — what  truth  it  really  conveys.  And,  when  a 
multiplicity  of  business  or  any  other  cause  prevents  my 
doing  this,  I  sensibly  feel  the  want  of  it.     The  Word  of 


LUTHER  S  WRITINGS.  125 

Go<l  is  given  us  thus  to  exercise  and  quicken  our  minds, 
"which  without  such  a  practice  contract  ruat,  as  it  v.rcre,  and 
lose  their  tone.  We  see  into  what  snares  men  continually 
fall :  and  what  else  is  the  reason  of  it,  but  that  they  feel 
secure  ?  they  do  not  pray,  they  do  not  hear  and  meditate  on 
the  divine  Word  ;  they  are  content  with  having  it  in  the 
book,  where  they  may  read  it  when  they  please.  Hence 
Satan  imperceptibly  instils  into  their  hearts  a  contempt  for 
the  Word  ;  and  this  leaves  them  exposed  to  despair  or  other 
great  dangers.  For  with  what  shall  a  man  defend  himself 
against  the  enemies  of  his  soul,  when  he  has  lost  '  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  V  " 

The  following  passage  presents  Luther's  own  answer  to 
those  who  exaggerated  the  mischiefs  consequent  upon  the 
reformation,  and  represented  them  as  so  great  that  it  would 
have  been  better  had  no  change  been  attempted.  *'  It  is 
not  easy  to  get  over  those  scandals,  when  Satan,  or  when 
subtle  and  able  men  set  them  forth  in  glaring  colours,  and 
charge  us  as  the  authors  of  them.  W^e  see  the  licentious 
liberty  that  prevails,  and  the  dissolution  of  discipline,  greater 
than  existed  under  the  papacy.  But  are  we  answerable  for 
this?  In  preaching  the  Word,  in  contending  by  means  of 
the  Word,  we  do  but  as  we  are  commanded  ;  nor  may  we  on 
any  consideration  withhold  obedience  to  the  Divine  command. 
The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  of  more  worth,  not  only  than 
peace — especially  such  a  peace  as  existed  under  the  papacy — 
but  than  heaven  and  earth  themselves.  And  then  consider 
the  other  side  :  open  your  eyes  and  see  the  monstrous 
impieties  which  before  prevailed  !  Nowhere  was  one  pure 
sentence  heard  concerning  sin — grace — the  merit  of  Christ — 
really  good  works — the  magistracy,  and  other  offices  and 
relations  of  life.  All  was  deformed  and  lost  beneath  cor- 
rupt and  pernicious  glosses.  Then,  what  were  the  profana- 
tions of  masses,  what  the  impostures  of  indulgences,  purga- 
tory, and  other  abominations  devised  only  as  sources  of 
gain  !  Mankind  appear  to  me  to  have  been  purposely  and 
studiously  exposed,  by  impious  teachers,  to  Satan  and 
eternal  death.  Look  at  the  two  sides  of  the  question  : 
there  are  evils  and  disorders  on  both,  but  which  of  the  two 
is  to  be  preferred  ]  I  had  almost  said  I  would  rather  live 
in  hell  with  the  Word  of  God,  than  in  paradise  without  it." 

A  treatise  of  Luther's  against  antinomianism  connects 
L2 


126 

with  the  history  a  person  whose  name  has  already  appeared 
in  this  work,  and  from  whom  better  things  might  have  been 
hoped.  This  was  John  Agricola  Islebius,  or  Agricola  of 
Eisleben — the  same  place  of  which  Luther  was  a  native. 
This  man  was  of  humble  origin,  but,  having  obtained  some 
previous  education,  he  had  studied  at  Wittemberg  under 
Luther  and  Melancthon,  whose  tenets  he  professed  to  em- 
brace. He  afterward  became  master  of  the  school  in  his 
native  town,  and  was  admitted  a  preacher  ;  in  the  discharge 
of  which  office  he  appears  to  have  possessed  a  degree  of 
popular  talent.  Hence  he  was  taken  by  Albert  Count 
Mansfeldt,  in  the  train  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  to  the  diet 
of  Spires  in  1526,  and  to  that  of  Augsburg  in  1530;  and  it 
is  in  the  latter  connexion  that  we  have  heard  of  him  as  one  of 
the  Protestant  preachers.*  He  appears  to  have  been  a  vain 
and  inconstant  man,  prone  to  innovation,  but  without 
firmness  to  adhere  to  his  own  dogmas ;  and  we  accordingly 
read  of  his  repeatedly  recanting  them.  Elated  with  his 
honours,  he  ventured  to  animadvert  on  Melancthon  for  the 
form  of  ecclesiastical  visitation  which  he  had  drawn  up  in 
1527.  He  afterward  removed  to  Wittemberg,  and  was 
allowed  to  preach  there,  and  read  lectures  in  the  university. 
He  broached  opinions,  however,  which  Luther  felt  himself 
called  upon  to  refute,  and  which  their  author  then  abandoned. 
About  the  year  1538  he  circulated,  anonymously,  some 
theses  maintaining  that  the  law  is  not  to  be  preached  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  sinners  to  repentance,  and  condemning 
what  Luther  had  advanced  in  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  concerning  the  use  of  the  law  in  awaken- 
ing the  consciences  of  men.  With  these  theses  others 
were  connected,  in  which  S.  Peter  was  charged  vpith  not  un- 
derstanding Christian  liberty ;  and  his  exhortation  to  Chris- 
tians to  give  "  diligence  to  make  their  calling  and  election 
sure"  was  openly  reprehended. 

Against  these  pernicious  dogmas,  Luther,  without  naming 
their  author,  maintained  and  published  six  academical  dis- 
putations ;  in  which  he  affirmed  it  to  be  the  proper  office  of 
the  law,  as  given  to  sinners,  to  discover  to  them  the  wrath 
of  God  against  their  offences,  and  thus  to  lead  them  to  con- 
viction and  repentance  of  sin  :  so  that  repentance,  properly 

*  See  p.  15. 


AGRICOLA    AND    ANTINOMIANISM.  127 

BO  called,  may  be  said  to  take  its  beginning  from  the  law : 
and  he  shows  this  to  be  the  plan  and  doctrine  of  Scripture, 
even  according  to  the  very  texts  which  had  been  adduced 
on  the  other  side.  He  particularly  insists  on  S.  Paul's 
method  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  begins  with 
the  "  revelation  of  wrath :"  and  it  is  "silly  trifling,"  he  says, 
"  to  talk  of  preaching  that  revelation  of  wrath,  and  yet  not 
preaching  the  law— which,  in  fact,  is  the  self-same  thing." 
Moreover,  the  law,  he  asserts,  was  to  be  set  forth,  not  only 
to  the  ungodly  for  the  purposes  just  mentioned,  but  also 
to  pious  persons,  to  admonish  them  of  the  duty  of  crucifying 
the  flesh  and  their  various  evil  propensities  and  passions. 
To  propose,  therefore,  to  take  away  the  preaching  and  use  of 
the  law  out  of  the  church  would  be  a  blasphemous  impiety. 
He  then  points  out  the  consequences  to  which  antinomian 
principles  lead  ;  one  of  which  is  the  subversion  of  the 
doctrine  of  grace  itself:  "  for,"  he  says,  "  where  there  is  no 
law  there  is  no  transgression  ;"  and  where  there  is  no 
knowledge  of  sin  there  can  be  none  of  its  forgiveness,  or 
of  grace  ;  and  the  result  will  be,  that  men  will  live  careless 
and  unconcerned  except  about  the  present  world.  "  These 
men,"  he  remarks,  "  pretend  to  preach  finely  about  grace 
and  the  remission  of  sins,  but  they  avoid  the  doctrine  of 
sanctification  and  newness  of  life  in  Christ :  forsooth  that 
men  may  not  be  rendered  uneasy,  but  may  enjoy  unin- 
terrupted consolation.  For,  whereas  they  ought  to  say.  If 
you  be  an  adulterer,  a  fornicator,  drunken,  proud,  covetous, 
a  usurer,  you  can  be  no  Christian  ;  instead  of  this  they 
say.  Though  you  be  such,  only  beUeve  in  Christ,  and  you 
will  have  no  need  to  fear  the  law  ;  Christ  hath  fialfilled  it 
all !  They  see  not  how  sanctification  follows  upon  justifica- 
tion ;  so  that  a  Christian  must  necessarily  be  a  partaker  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  lead  a  new  life  :  and  if  he  does  not  do 
that,  let  him  know  that  he  has  no  part  in  Christ." 

Concerning  himself,  Luther  made  an  observation  which 
has  by  no  means  met  with  the  regard  to  which  it  was 
entitled  :  "  That,  if  at  any  time  he  had  taught  that  the  law 
was  not  to  be  preached  in  the  church,  it  was  unjust  to 
impute  to  him  a  sentiment  long  ago  discarded,  when  he  had 
since  clearly  and  frequently  laid  down  the  contrary.  He 
had  taught  many  other  things  under  the  papacy  with  great 
sincerity ;  and  indeed  there  was  scarcely  now  to  be  found 


128  LUTHER'S   WRITINGS. 

so  miserable  and  burdened  a  papist  as,  from  conscience  and 
the  fear  of  God,  he  had  once  been  :  no  wonder  then  if  he 
had  need  to  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ." 

After  this  publication  of  Luther's,  Agricola  again  professed 
to  renounce  his  errors  :  but  his  conduct  was  unsteady  and 
inconsistent.  He  afterward  withdrew  into  the  dominions 
of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  insinuated  himself  into 
his  favour.  Luther  congratulated  himself  on  his  removal 
from  Wittemberg,  and  complained  bitterly  of  the  trouble  he 
suffered  from  such  airy  and  conceited  spirits,  calling  them- 
selves his  disciples. — The  account  of  this  man  may  suggest 
useful  admonition  ;  and  he  gave  occasion  to  discussions,  the 
result  of  which,  even  as  here  briefly  exhibited,  may  not  be 
unimportant. 

In  the  next  year  Luther  published  expositions  of  the 
ninetieth  Psalm  (the  "  prayer  of  Moses  the  man  of  God"), 
and  of  some  of  the  minor  prophets.  In  the  preface  he 
observes  that  there  were  at  that  time  men,  and  more  would 
afterward  arise,  who  despised  theological  studies,  and  indeed 
■all  studies  :  there  ought  therefore  to  be  some  to  proclaim  the 
praises  of  God,  and  to  disseminate  the  knowledge  of  his 
Word.  In  such  pursuits  he  desired  to  spend  his  days  ;  and, 
in  particular,  he  would  employ  the  remainder  of  them  in 
explaining  the  writings  of  Moses,  the  fountain  from  which 
both  prophets  and  apostles,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  had  drawn. 

On  blasphemous  thoughts  and  temptations  he  remarks, 
that  they  are  no  proof  or  occasion  of  Divine  displeasure, 
when  we  hate  and  reject  them  :  they  are  even  made  a 
special  means  of  calling  forth  those  "  groanings  which 
cannot  be  uttered,"  that  are  peculiarly  pleasing  to  God. 

On  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  Christian  communion 
he  thus  feelingly  speaks  :  "  I  am  myself  a  professor  of 
theology,  and  many  have  acknowledged  that  they  had  derived 
no  inconsiderable  assistance  from  me  :  yet  I  have  often  felt 
myself  most  sensibly  raised  and  helped  by  a  single  word 
from  a  brother,  who  thought  himself  very  much  my  inferior. 
.The  word  of  a  brother,  pronounced  from  Holy  Scripture  in 
'a,  time  of  need,  carries  an  inconceivable  v\'eight  with  it. 
The  Holy  Spirit  accompanies  it,  and  by  it  moves  and  ani- 
mates the  hearts  of  his  people  as  their  circumstances  require. 


Luther's  writings.  129 

The  greatest  saints  have  their  tunes  of  weakness,  when 
others  are  stronger  than  they." 

In  the  same  year  he  pubUshed  an  earnest  Exhortation  to 
prayer  against  the  Turks.  In  this  work  he  solemnly  ad- 
monishes both  parties  in  Germany  of  their  sins  ;  the  papists 
of  their  errors  and  cruelties,  the  Protestants  of  their  cor- 
ruption of  manners,  which  dishonoured  the  sound  doctrine 
they  professed.  Particularly  he  reprehends  the  repugnance 
of  both  nobles  and  people  to  endure  pastoral  reproof,  and 
their  unwillingness  decently  to  provide  for  their  ministers, 
at  a  period  when  the  articles  of  life  had  risen  to  three  times 
their  former  price  ;  a  circumstance  which  he  ascribes  in 
great  measure  to  the  prevaiUng  spirit  of  avarice  and  rapacity. 
He  anticipates  that  God  would  ere  long  punish  Germany, 
either  by  civil  war  or  by  means  of  the  Turks.  He  earnestly 
exhorts  all  orders  of  men  to  reformation  ;  and  then,  after 
making  that  their  first  care,  to  exertion  against  the  enemy. 
And  here  he  rejects  every  idea  of  despondency,  or  of  sitting 
still  and  doing  nothing,  referring  all,  like  the  Mahometans 
themselves,  to  predestination  or  fate.  "  It  is  true,"  he  says, 
"  that  what  God  has  ordained  must  come  to  pass  ;  but  I  am 
not  commanded,  rather  I  am  forbidden,  to  pry  into  his 
unrevealed  purposes.  As  I  know  them  not,  it  is  tempting 
God  to  neglect  what  I  evidently  ought  to  do,  and  thus  to 
plunge  myself  in  ruin.  Precepts  are  given,  that  I  may 
know  and  do  my  duty  :  the  Word  of  God  teaches  me  that, 
and  bids  me  commit  what  is  unknown  to  God."  "  Let  us," 
he  says,  "  discharge  our  duty,  and  not  trouble  ourselves 
about  predestination,  concerning  [the  specific  appointments 
of]  which  we  have  no  revelation,  no  light,  no  knowledge  at 
all.  Let  us  dismiss  the  subject  from  our  thoughts,  and 
leave  it  in  the  obscurity  which  belongs  to  it ;  only  taking 
care  to  do  what  is  commanded  us,  and  what  we  know  ought 
to  be  done." 

Among  his  letters  of  this  period  an  interesting  one  is 
preserved,  addressed  to  Myconius,  pastor  of  Gotha,  who 
was  very  ill,  and  appeared  drawing  near  his  end.  This 
good  man  had  written  Luther  word  that  he  was  "  sick,  not 
unto  death,  but  unto  life  ;"  meaning  that  he  expected  his 
sickness  to  remove  him  to  life  everlasting  ;  a  sentence  which 
exceedingly  pleased  the  reformer.  In  his  answer  he  said, 
"  I  beg  and  implore  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  our  life,  our 


130  Luther's  avritings. 

health,  and  our  salvation,  that  he  would  not  permit  such  an 
addition  to  be  made  to  what  I  suffer,  as  that  I  should  see 
you  or  any  of  my  comrades  break  through  the  vail  and  enter 
into  rest,  leaving  me  here  behind  in  the  midst  of  demons. 
I  pray  the  Lord  to  make  me  sick  instead  of  you,  and  to 
suffer  me  to  lay  down  the  tabernacle  of  an  exhausted  and 
useless  body,  which  has  done  its  work."  And  again,  at  the 
close  of  his  letter  :  "  Farewell,  my  dear  Frederic  ;  may  the 
Lord  never  permit  me  to  hear  of  your  taking  your  passage, 
while  I  remain  behind  ;  but  may  you  be  the  survivor.  So 
I  ask,  and  such  is  my  will,  and  let  my  will  be  done.  Amen  ! 
I  say  this  because  my  will  is  directed  to  the  glory  of  God, 
and  not  to  my  own  pleasure.  Again,  farewell !  we  pray  for 
you  from  our  inmost  souls,  and  are  greatly  afflicted  at  your 
illness."  Myconius  recovered,  and  survived  Luther  ;  which 
he  attributed  to  Luther's  prayers.  He  said  the  effect  of 
Luther's  letter  was  such,  that  in  reading  it  he  seemed  to 
hear  the  voice  of  Christ  saying,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth  !" 

A  few  additional  particulars  may  be  noted  from  his  letters. 
Concerning  Melancthon,  who,  having  this  year  received  an 
addition  of  a  hundred  florins  to  his  stipend,  proposed  to 
continue  the  Greek  lecture  at  Wittemberg  without  remu- 
neration, Luther  wrote  to  the  elector,  wishing  him  to  appoint 
some  younger  person  to  perform  that  service.  "  Melanc- 
thon," he  said,  "  had  been  like  a  servant  of  all-work  to  the 
university  /or  twenty  years  past,  and  he  well  deserved  the 
additional  emolument  which  the  elector  had  awarded  him. 
The  whole  Christian  world,  moreover,  was  indebted  to  him  ; 
and  the  adherents  of  Rome,  he  was  happy  to  say,  feared 
none  among  the  learned  so  much  as  Melancthon  and  those 
who  had  been  trained  by  him." 

All  his  letters  from  this  period  to  the  end  of  his  life 
breathe  earnest  desires  after  release,  and  dismission  to  his 
eternal  rest.  He  lived  five  years  longer,  but  it  was  amid 
increasing  infirmities  and  sufferings  :  and  he  was  very 
unequal  to  those  severe  labours  in  which  he  had  engaged, 
and  in  which,  as  Seckendorf  observes,  he  still  never  spared 
himself.  Yet  we  see  in  him  throughout  the  heart  of  a 
Christian  hero.  Writing  to  Lauterback,  pastor  of  Pima, 
he  expresses  his  joy  at  the  reformation  begun  in  Cologne — 
of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak  in  the  next  chapter.  He 
says,  "  If  the  people  of  Bethsaida  and  Chorazin  here  in  our 


THE  POPE,  CHARLES,  AND  FRANCIS.      131 

own  country  will  not  receive  the  prophet,  there  will  be 
found  the  Samaritans  and  the  woman  of  Canaan  to  do 
it.  Let  us  therefore  only  persevere  in  preaching,  praying, 
suffering  :  a  reward  awaits  our  work  ;  we  labour  not  in 
vain." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Maurice  succeeds  Henry  of  Saxony — His  Line  of  Policy — 
Henry  of  Brunswick  expelled — Reformation  of  his  Terri- 
tories— Situation  of  the  Protestants — Herman  Archbishop 
of  Cologne — The  Bishop  of  Munster — The  Princes  of 
Henneberg. 

We  now  proceed  with  the  course  of  events  which  fol- 
lowed the  diet  of  Ratisbon. 

Affairs  in  Hungary  had  taken  an  unfortunate  turn  for  the 
house  of  Austria  ;  and  it  was  to  provide  against  the  con- 
sequences of  what  had  occurred  or  was  anticipated  in  that 
quarter  that  Charles  had  made  such  liberal  concessions  to 
the  Protestants  in  his  declaration  appended  to  the  recess  of 
the  diet.  By  this  means  he  obtained  a  vote  of  such  ample  sup- 
plies of  both  men  and  money  for  carrying  on  the  war  against 
the  Turks,  as  left  him  under  little  anxiety  about  the  security 
of  Germany  during  the  next  campaign. 

Immediately  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  diet,  he  set  out 
for  Italy,  As  he  passed  through  Lucca,  he  had  a  short  but 
fruitless  interview  with  the  pope.  They  could  neither  agree 
between  themselves  on  any  proper  method  of  composing  the 
religious  disputes  in  Germany,  nor  could  the  pope  remove 
the  causes  of  discord  between  Charles  and  the  King  of 
France,  which  soon  gave  occasion  to  a  fierce  war,  com- 
mencing in  1542,  but  terminated  again  by  the  peace  of 
Crespy,  in  September,  1544. 

About  the  time  that  the  diet  of  Ratisbon  broke  up,  Mau- 
rice succeeded  his  father  Henry  in  the  government  of  that 
part  of  Saxony  which  belonged  to  the  Albertine  branch  of 
the  Saxon  family.  "  This  young  prince,  then  only  in  his 
twentieth  year,  had,  even  at  that  early  period,  begun  to 


132  MAURICE    OF    SAXONY. 

discover  the  great  talents  which  qualified  him  for  acting  such 
a  distinguished  part  in  the  affairs  of  Germany.  As  soon  as 
he  entered  upon  the  administration,  he  struck  out  into  such 
a  new  and  singular  path  as  showed  that  he  aimed,  from  the 
beginning,  at  something  great  and  uncommon.  Though 
zealously  attached  to  the  Protestant  opinions,  both  from 
education  and  principle,  he  refused  to  accede  to  the  league 
of  Smalkald,  being  determined,  as  he  said,  to  maintain  the 
purity  of  rehgion,  which  was  the  original  object  of  that  con- 
federacy, but  not  to  entangle  himself  in  the  political  interests 
or  combinations  to  which  it  had  given  rise.  At  the  same 
time,  foreseeing  a  rupture  between  Charles  and  the  con- 
federates of  Smalkald,  and  perceiving  which  of  them  was 
most  likely  to  prevail  in  the  contest,  instead  of  that  jealousy 
and  distrust  which  the  other  Protestants  expressed  of  all 
the  emperor's  designs,  he  affected  to  place  in  him  an  un- 
bounded confidence  ;  and  courted  his  favour  with  the  utmost 
assiduity."*  On  the  other  hand,  he  discovered  a  jealousy 
of  his  cousin  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  which  in  the  end  proved 
very  fatal  to  the  latter,  and  had  wellnigh  occasioned  an  open 
rupture  between  them,  soon  after  Maurice's  accession,  on  the 
subject  of  a  paltry  town  on  the  Moldau.  "  They  were  pre- 
vented however  from  proceeding  to  action  by  the  mediation 
of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  whose  daughter  Maurice  had 
married,  as  well  as  by  the  powerful  and  authoritative  admoni- 
tions of  Luther."* 

The  admonitions  of  Luther  to  the  contending  princes  on 
this  occasion  may  well  be  styled  "  powerful  and  authorita- 
tive :"  they  were  even  surprisingly  free  and  vehement.  He 
apologizes,  as  an  ecclesiastic,  for  interfering  in  a  pohtical 
question  :  but  "  the  credit  and  the  interests  of  religion," 
he  says,  "  were  at  stake,  when  so  fierce  a  quarrel  arose  on 
so  trivial  an  occasion,  between  princes  nearly  related,  and 
both  of  them  professed  supporters  of  the  Protestant  faith. 
Peacemakers,"  he  observes,  "  are  pronounced  blessed,  and 
the  children  of  God  :  whence  it  might  be  inferred  that  peace- 
breakers  were  the  children  of  the  devil.  And  this  sentence 
of  our  Lord  extended  to  men  of  all  ranks  and  conditions 
alike.  Should  this  feud  actually  break  out  into  a  war,"  he 
even  tells  them,  *'  wise  men  would  regard  them,  instead  of 

*  Robertson. 


MA.URICE    OF    SAXONY.  133 

great  princes,  as  resembling  drunken  rustics  fighting  in  a 
tavern  about  a  broken  wine-cup,  or  idiots  contending  for  a 
morsel  of  bread.  In  the  mean  time,  this  little  spark  might 
kindle  into  a  conflagration,  over  which  the  enemies  of  the 
gospel,  and  even  the  Turks  themselves,  might  rejoice  ;  while 
the  devil  and  his  agents  would  tauntingly  observe,  '  So 
these  are  the  leaders  who  undertake  to  point  out  to  others 
the  way  to  heaven  !' "  He  even  threatens  them  with 
"  eternal  damnation"  if  they  refused  a  pacific  arrangement 
of  their  differences.  He  refers  them  to  the  example  of  the 
elector  Frederic  the  Wise,  who,  having  a  dispute  with  the 
people  of  Erfurt,  and  being  told  by  some  lovers  of  war, 
"  that  it  would  not  cost  him  more  than  five  men  to  take  the 
city,"  replied,  that  "  the  loss  of  one  would  be  too  much." 
"  Retire,"  he  says,  "  each  of  you  into  his  chamber,  and  pray 
seriously  to  God  :  sure  I  am  that  his  Spirit  will  give  you 
another  mind."  He  adds,  that  "  he  for  his  part  would  take 
the  side  of  him  who  was  willing  to  submit  his  cause  to  an 
equitable  and  peaceable  arbitration  ;  and,  whichever  of  them 
it  might  be,  he  would  animate  him  to  do  valiantly  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  in  case  the  other  refused  his  acquies- 
cence." If  it  should  be  thought  that  in  this  composition 
Luther  assumes  too  much,  and  uses  stronger  expressions 
than  became  him,  it  may  be  observed,  that  his  address  was 
never  completed,  the  quarrel  being  appeased. 

Much  apprehension  might  not  unreasonably  have  been 
entertained  for  the  cause  of  religion  in  ducal  Saxony,  from 
the  habits  to  which  the  people  had  so  long  been  accustomed 
under  the  government  of  George  ;  from  the  influence  which 
his  counsellors  still  retained  ;  from  the  youth  and  aspiring 
character  of  Maurice  ;  and  from  the  misunderstandings  into 
which  he  fell  with  the  elector.  Happily,  however,  little 
obstruction  occurred,  and  many  of  Maurice's  plans  con- 
tributed to  extend  and  render  permanent  the  reformation 
which  had  been  established  in  his  dominions.  In  the  year 
1543  he  published  a  copious  instrument  for  the  regulation 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  in  which  the  instructions  given  to 
the  clergy  were  excellent.  He  founded  three  noble  schools, 
in  which  he  provided  for  the  free  education  and  support  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty  scholars  ;  appointed  exhibitions  for 
a  hundred  students  in  the  university  of  Leipzig ;  and,  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  states  of  the  province,  appropriated 

Vol.  II.— M 


134  MAURICE    OF    SAXONY. 

for  ever  the  revenues  of  the  vacated  monasteries  and  college* 
for  these  purposes,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  and 
for  other  pious  and  charitable  uses.  In  order  also  to  do 
away  the  apprehension  of  any  capricious  changes,  he  soon 
after,  by  a  public  instrument,  constituted  the  doctors,  licen- 
tiates, and  professors  of  the  university  of  Leipzig  (among 
whom  the  name  of  Aless,  Pfeffinger,  and  Joachim  Came- 
rarius  occur)  a  consistory,  to  which  all  matters  relating  to 
religion  should  be  referred.  Such  a  measure  he  thought 
became  him,  and  was  called  for  by  his  circumstances,  "  he 
being  but  a  youthful  prince,  and  one  for  whom  the  civil 
affairs  of  his  country  would  find  sufficient  employment." 
His  provisions  for  the  advancement  of  religion  and  learning 
were  afterward  still  further  extended  and  improved,  both  by 
himself  and  by  his  brother  and  successor  Augustus. 

Concerning  Maurice,  we  may  further  remark,  that  his 
marriage  with  the  daughter  of  the  landgrave  was  a  sudden 
measure,  and  not  thought  to  be  very  agreeable  to  his  parents  : 
but  it  proved,  in  the  admirable  ordinations  of  Providence,  an 
essential  link  in  that  remarkable  series  of  events  in  which 
Maurice,  having  first  been  a  principal  instrument  of  the  em- 
peror in  subverting,  as  it  appeared,  the  Protestant  cause  in 
Germany,  afterward  became  the  means  of  giving  it  perma- 
nent and  independent  establishment,  and  of  frustrating  all 
the  emperor's  ambitious  designs.  Seckendorf  piously  re- 
marks the  superintending  hand  of  Providence  in  overruling 
the  novel  course  into  which  this  young  prince  struck  out, 
which  appears  to  have  been  dictated  by  deep  and  artful  ambi- 
tion, and  which  occasioned  so  much  anxiety  and  distress  to 
his  Protestant  friends.  Could  he  have  been  brought  zeal- 
ously to  co-operate  with  them,  they  would  have  been  ready 
to  think  themselves  secure  against  the  attempts  of  their  ene- 
mies :  yet  very  probably  he  would  have  been  overwhelmed 
along  with  them  ;  and  then,  humanly  speaking,  no  power 
would  have  remained  to  restore  either  the  liberties  of  Ger- 
many, or  the  Protestant  religion  within  the  empire. 

In  the  mean  time  the  pope  was  so  urgently  pressed  on  the 
subject  of  a  general  council  that  he  proceeded  actually  to 
convoke  one  to  be  held  at  Trent  (a  city  in  the  Tyrol,  subject 
to  the  king  of  the  Romans),  on  the  1st  of  November,  1542  ; 
and  named  three  cardinals  to  preside  in  it  as  his  legates. 
The  time  however  was  altogether  unseasonable,  when  a 


HENRY    OF    BRUNSWICK.  135 

fierce  war  was  just  kindled  between  the  emperor  and  the 
King  of  France,  and  the  place  was  such  as  could  give  no 
satisfaction  to  the  Protestants.  The  legates  repaired  to 
Trent,  and  remained  there  several  months  ;  but  no  person 
met  them,  except  a  few  prelates  from  the  ecclesiastical  state  ; 
and  the  pope,  in  order  to  avoid  the  ridicule  and  contempt 
which  he  incurred  from  the  enemies  of  the  church,  recalled 
them  and  prorogued  the  council. 

The  circumstances  of  the  emperor  and  the  King  of  the 
Romans  obliged  them  at  this  time  even  to  court  the  favour 
of  the  Protestants  by  repeated  acts  of  indulgence.  All  the 
emperor's  concessions  to  them  at  Ratisbon  were  now  re- 
newed, with  the  addition  of  whatever  they  demanded  for 
their  further  security.  A  decree  of  the  imperial  chamber 
against  one  of  the  cities  which  had  entered  into  the  league 
of  Smalkald  was  suspended.  Henry  of  Brunswick,  how- 
ever, a  furious  bigot,  and  no  less  obstinate  than  rash  in  all 
his  undertakings,  continuing  to  molest  the  peace,  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  assembled  their 
forces,  declared  war  in  form  against  him,  and  in  space  of  a  few 
weeks  stripped  him  entirely  of  his  dominions.  This  sum- 
mary and  decisive  chastisement  inflicted  upon  him  by  the 
Protestant  princes  filled  all  Germany  with  a  dread  of  their 
power.  It  excited  however  considerable  jealousy,  even 
among  some  of  their  own  friends.  Henry  appealed  to  the 
emperor,  who  declared  that  he  could  not  disapprove  what  had 
been  done,  as  the  offender  had  refused  submission  alike  to 
the  emperor's  injunctions  and  the  admonitions  of  the  diet : 
he  only  wished  the  conquerors  to  use  their  victory  with  mod- 
eration. It  was  at  length  agreed  that  Henry's  dominions 
should  be  held  in  sequestration  by  persons  appointed  by  the 
emperor  :  and  he  himself,  soon  after  renewing  his  attempts, 
was  made  prisoner  by  the  landgrave  and  Maurice,  and  re- 
tained in  close  confinement  till  a  new  change  of  affairs  pro- 
cured him  his  liberty. 

What  we  however  are  principally  concerned  to  notice  is, 
the  reformation  of  his  country  of  Brunswick  Wolfenbuttle, 
while  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse.  A  regulation  of  its  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  drawn  up  by  Bugenhagen,  Corvinus,  and  Martin 
Gorlitz,  and  fully  introducing  Protestant  doctrines  and  Prot- 
estant usages,  was  published  by  authority  in  1543:  and, 
though  this  was  abrogated  on  Henry's  restoration,  five  years 


136  MANUFACTURE    OF    PALLS. 

afterward,  yet  it  was  productive  of  happy  effects  while  it 
lasted  ;  and  the  good  providence  of  God  so  ordered,  that  the 
Protestant  religion  was  re-established  in  this  country  by  wise 
and  equitable  laws,  under  the  government  of  JuUus,  the  son 
and  successor  of  Henry.  Nay,  Henry  himself,  before  his 
death,  became  reconciled  to  the  elector  and  the  landgrave, 
and  is  spoken  of  as  a  convert  to  the  Protestant  faith. 

The  contest  between  Henry  of  Brunswick  and  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  had  been  carried  on,  not  only  with  the  sword  but 
with  the  pen  also,  each  writing  against  the  other  with  great 
acrimony  :  and  some  charges  having  been  thrown  out  by 
the  former  against  Luther,  he  too  was  induced  to  join  in  the 
controversy,  with  more  than  his  usual  violence  and  severity. 
It  will  not  be  needful  to  give  any  extracts  from  this  work: 
but  we  may  observe,  that,  by  furnishing  some  additional 
information  respecting  that  issue  of  indulgences  which  occa- 
sioned the  reformation,  he  draws  from  Sleidan  an  explana- 
tion which  may  be  a  little  amusing  to  the  reader.  This  his- 
torian tells  us,  that  three  archbishops  of  Mentz  having  died 
within  a  short  time,  the  expense  of  procuring  their  palls  from 
Rome  fell  too  heavily  upon  the  chapter ;  as  each  pall  cost 
about  thirty  thousand  florins  :  and  that  Albert  had  therefore 
been  elected  to  the  archbishopric  on  the  express  condition 
that  he  should  pay  the  charges  of  his  own  pall.  To  reim- 
burse himself,  Albert  applied  for  a  bull  for  indulgences, 
which  the  pope  granted,  with  the  provision  that  half  the 
money  raised  should  be  applied  to  the  rebuilding  of  St.  Pe- 
ter's church  at  Rome.  This  introduces  the  following  state- 
ment. "  On  St.  Agnes'  day,  when,  in  the  mass  said  in  St. 
Agnes'  church  at  Rome  they  come  to  the  words,  '  Lamb  of 
God  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,'  two  white 
lambs  are  laid  upon  the  altar,  w^hich  are  afterward  given  to 
two  subdeacons  of  St.  Peter's  church,  who  rear,  and  in  due 
time  shear  them.  Their  wool,  mixed  with  other  wool,  is 
spun,  and  woven  into  these  palls,  which  are  three  fingers 
broad,  and  hang  down  from  the  shoulders  to  the  middle  of 
the  breast  before,  and  to  the  reins  behind ;  being  kept 
stretched  by  thin  plates  of  lead,  of  the  same  breadth.  When 
they  are  thus  woven,  they  are  carried  to  the  bodies  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and,  after  some  prayers  said,  are  left 
there  all  night.  Next  day  the  subdeacons  receive  them 
again,  and  decently  lay  them  up,  till  some  archbishop  that 
needs  it  (for  they  are  seldom  granted  to  any  inferior  pre- 


SITUATION   OF    THE    PROTESTANTS.  137 

lales)  applies  for  one.  This  Is  neither  a  curious  nor  a  costly 
commodity,  and  yet  the  archbishops  pay  dear  for  it  to  the 
pope.  Nor  is  any  one  allowed  to  use  the  pall  of  his  prede- 
cessor, or,  if  translated  to  a  new  see,  to  retain  his  old  one." 
— "  So  well,"  exclaims  Luther,  "  knows  the  pope  how  to 
sell  his  cloth  !"  . 

Imboldened  by  their  successes,  and  by  so  many  conces- 
sions in  their  favour,  "  the  princes  of  the  league  of  Smalkald 
took  a  solemn  protest  against  the  imperial  chamber,  and  de- 
clined its  jurisdiction  for  the  future,  because  that  court  had 
not  been  visited  or  reformed  according  to  the  decree  of  Ratis- 
bon,  and  continued  to  discover  a  most  indecent  partiality 
in  all  its  proceedings.  Not  long  after  this,  they  ventured  a 
step  further  ;  and  protesting  against  the  recess  of  a  diet  held 
at  Nuremberg,  which  provided  for  the  defence  of  Hungary, 
refused  to  furnish  their  contingent  for  that  purpose,  unless 
the  imperial  chamber  were  reformed,  and  full  security  were 
granted  them  in  every  point  with  regard  to  religion."* 
Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  emperor  returned 
from  the  Low  Countries  to  hold  the  diet  at  Spires  in  the 
year  1544.  The  great  object  which  he  proposed  to  himself 
in  this  diet  was,  to  prevail  on  the  Germanic  body  to  afford 
him  its  hearty  and  united  support  in  his  war  with  the  King 
of  France;  and  he  succeeded  in  giving  to  the  assembly  such 
an  impression  of  the  conduct  of  that  monarch,  who  had 
entered  into  alliance  with  Solyman,  and  of  the  obstruction 
which  he  occasioned  to  both  the  great  designs,  of  procuring 
a  general  council,  and  of  providing  means  for  effectually 
checking  the  formidable  progress  of  the  Turkish  arms,  that 
all  parties  seemed  well  inclined  to  comply  with  his  wishes. 
"  Charles  perceived  that  nothing  could  now  obstruct  his 
gaining  all  that  he  aimed  at,  but  the  fears  and  jealousies  of 
the  Protestants  ;  which  he  determined  to  quiet  by  granting 
every  thing  that  the  utmost  solicitude  of  these  passions 
could  desire  for  the  security  of  their  religion.  With  this 
view,  he  consented  to  a  recess  whereby  all  the  rigorous  edicts 
hitherto  issued  against  the  Protestants  were  suspended  ;  a 
council,  either  general  or  national,  to  be  assembled  in  Ger- 
many, was  declared  necessary  in  order  to  re-establish  peace 
in  the  church ;  until  one  of  these  should  be  held  (which  the 

*  Robertson. 
M3 


138  SITUATION  OF 

emperor  undertook  to  bring  about  as  soon  as  possible),  the 
free  and  public  exercise  of  the  Protestant  religion  was  au- 
thorized ;  the  imperial  chamber  was  enjoined  to  give  no 
molestation  to  the  Protestants  ;  and,  when  the  term  for 
which  the  present  judges  in  that  court  were  elected  should 
expire,  persons  duly  qualified  were  then  to  be  admitted  as 
members,  without  any  distinction  on  account  of  religion. 
In  return  for  these  extraordinary  acts  of  indulgence,  the 
Protestants  concurred  with  the  other  members  of  the  diet  in 
declaring  war  against  Francis  in  the  name  of  the  empire," 
and  in  voting  the  requisite  subsidies  for  carrying  on  both  it 
and  the  war  against  the  Turks.* 

Such  are  the  statements  given  by  Dr.  Robertson,  which 
are  no  doubt  substantially  correct :  yet  the  impression  on 
the  whole  made  concerning  the  security,  the  power,  and 
even  the  triumphant  progress  of  the  Protestants  seems 
much  stronger  than  is  warranted  by  a  more  minute  inspec- 
tion of  original  documents.  The  truth  is,  they  had  all  this 
time  great  difficslties  to  encounter,  and  great  anxieties  to 
endure  :  and  this  was  especially  the  case  at  the  periods  of 
the  successive  diets.  Maimbourg  charges  them  with  fierce- 
ness and  insolence  ;  but  Seckendorf  asserts  that  their  real 
feelings  were  of  a  very  different  kind.  At  the  time  of  the 
diet  of  Nuremberg  in  1543,  in  particular,  he  says,  <'  So  great 
was  the  accumulation  of  business,  so  many  the  machina- 
tions formed  against  the  Protestants,  such  their  distrust  and 
want  of  harmony  among  themselves,  such  their  alarms  and 
their  mistakes,  that  it  is  wonderful  that  their  two  leaders, 
the  elector  and  the  landgrave,  could  support  the  labours  and 
cares  which  devolved  upon  them."  They  were  exposed  to 
ever}'^  species  of  chicane  in  their  intercourse  with  the  em- 
peror's ministers  ;  at  the  same  time  that  unbounded  profes- 
sions of  confidence  and  friendship  were  employed  to  lull 
their  suspicions  to  sleep,  or  to  gain  their  concurrence  in 
measures  necessary  to  the  emperor's  present  projects. 
Even  in  his  concessions,  Charles  thought  proper  to  adhere 
to  the  practice  of  which  he  had  first  given  the  example  at 
Ratisbon,  by  not  introducing  them  into  the  recesses  of  the 
diets,  but  appending  them  as  declarations  made  by  himself. 
In  this  form  they  had  no  legal  authority  ;  and  they  were 
never  acknowledged  by  the  Roman  Catholics  as  obligatory. 

*  Robertson. 


THE    PROTESTANTS.  139 

— In  like  manner,  though  the  emperor  would  for  the  tune 
restrain  the  proceedings  of  the  imperial  chamber,  and  sus- 
pend its  decrees ;  and  though  he  even  appointed  a  com- 
mission to  investigate  its  conduct,  and  examine  into  the 
complaints  of  the  Protestants  against  it  ;  he  would  rescind 
nothing  that  it  had  done,  nor  make  any  change  in  its  con- 
stitution, by  admitting  others  than  Catholics  to  act  as  judges. 
All  its  decrees,  though  their  execution  was  suspended,  re- 
mained in  force,  to  be  acted  upon  when  circumstances 
might  permit.  Add  to  this  the  persecutions  carried  on 
under  the  emperor's  sanction,  wherever  his  power  was  not 
controlled ;  together  with  the  very  obvious  reflections,  that 
circumstances  imperiously  required  him  for  the  present  to  act 
the  part  he  did  in  Germany,  and  that  to  be  so  compelled  and 
restrained  must  have  been  intolerably  galling  to  a  prince  of 
Charles's  despotic  and  ambitious  temper  :  we  shall  then  not 
wonder  at  the  anxieties  of  the  Protestant  party,  or  at  hear- 
ing the  elector  thus  piously,  though  gloomily,  vent  his  feel- 
ings. "  If,"  says  he,  "  according  to  the  prophecy  of  Daniel, 
the  empire  is  doomed  to  dissolution,  and  the  time  of  that 
event  is  at  hand  ;  what  is  appointed  must  be  borne  :  but  may 
Almighty  God,  the  Father  of  all  mercy,  show  himself  the 
Lord,  and  the  Parent,  and  the  Master  in  this  cause,  and 
direct  all  things  better  than  human  foresight  could  conceive  ! 
May  he  withstand  the  pope,  the  Turk,  the  emperor,  and  the 
French,  and  preserve  his  Word  in  safety  to  the  end  of  time, 
whatever  may  become  of  all  beside  !" — We  shall  admire 
also  the  spirit  manifested  by  Luther,  and  his  friends  under 
these  circumstances.  The  citizens  of  Augsburg  had  exten- 
sive commercial  dealings  with  Italy  ;  and  they  had  through 
that  channel  received  intimations  how  confidently  a  speedy 
suppression  of  Lutheranism,  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  pope 
and  the  emperor,  was  now  anticipated.  They  communicated 
their  apprehensions  to  the  elector,  who  laid  the  case  before 
Luther  and  his  colleagues.  Their  reply  was,  "  We  see 
that  we  can  by  no  mere  hiiman  prudence  secure  this  great 
object— the  preser^'ation  of  pure  and  orthodox  religion. 
Let  us  do  therefore  whatever  we  can  towards  it,  that  may  be 
agreeable  to  the  will  of  God  ;  but  let  us  never  think  that  it 
is  in  our  power  to  provide  against  all  future  dangers  ;  and 
let  us  be  careful  to  avoid  all  unlawful  means  of  attempting 
it."  In  the  final  clause  they  especially  refer  to  a  disposition 
intimated  on  the  part  of  the  Augsburgers,  to  refuse  to  have 


140  SITUATION  or 

the  next  diet  held  in  their  city,  if  the  emperor  should  direct 
it  to  meet  there. 

One  transaction  of  the  emperor's,  at  the  very  time  when 
he  was  courting  the  Protestants,  was  personally  painful  to 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  at  the  same  time  too  clearly 
spoke  the  real  sentiments  of  its  author.  William  Duke  of 
Cleves,  the  elector's  brother-in-law,  had  a  dispute  with  the 
emperor  respecting  the  duchy  of  Gueldres,  of  which  the 
former  held  possession.  He  was  well  affected  towards  the 
reformation,  and  would  gladly  have  availed  himself  of  the 
assistance  of  the  Protestant  confederates  in  support  of  his 
claim  ;  but  as  they  declined  to  interfere  in  a  dispute  merely 
of  a  political  nature,  he  sought  protection  in  an  alliance 
with  the  King  of  France.  The  emperor,  however,  marched 
into  his  country,  and  compelled  him  to  submit  in  the  most 
abject  manner  ;  and  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  which  he 
made  with  him  was,  "  That  he  should  not  depart  from  the 
religion  of  the  Catholic  church  ;  and  if  he  had  made  any 
^Iterations,  should  restore  things  again  as  they  were  before." 

The  proceedings  of  the  late  diets  were  in  a  high  degree 
offensive  to  the  court  of  Rome.  The  pope  considered  both 
Charles's  concessions  to  the  Protestants,  and  his  consenting 
to  call  a  council,  and  to  admit  of  public  disputations  in  Ger- 
many, with  a  view  to  determining  the  doctrines  in  contro- 
versy, as  sacrilegious  encroachments  upon  the  prerogatives 
of  the  holy  see  ;  and  in  consequence  he  addressed  to  Charles 
a  remonstrance,  written  in  a  style  of  the  highest  authority. 
He  tells  him,  that  «'  in  the  discharge  of  his  own  duty,  and  in 
the  love  he  bore  to  him,  he  could  not  dissemble  his  thoughts 
concerning  his  proceedings,  which  tended  to  the  danger  of 
his  own  soul,  and  the  great  disturbance  of  the  church." 
"  He  had  ever  before  his  own  eyes,"  he  says,  "  the  example 
of  Eli,  the  high-priest,  whom  God  severely  punished  for  his 
too  great  indulgence  to  his  sons  ;"  the  like  to  which  might 
befall  himself,  if  he  suffered  the  emperor,  "  the  first-born  son 
of  the  church,"  thus  to  go  astray  without  admonition.  It 
behooved  the  emperor  to  follow  "  the  uniform  practice  of  the 
church,  and  the  custom  of  his  forefathers,"  which  was  to 
refer  the  whole  decision  of  all  matters  relating  to  religion  to 
the  see  of  Rome  :  but,  so  far  from  doing  this,  he  had  taken 
upon  him  to  appoint  general  and  national  councils,  ivithout 
any  regard  to  him,  who  "  alone  had  the  power  of  calling 


THE    PROTESTANTS.  141 

councils,  and  determining  the  affairs  of  religion  :"  nay,  not 
only  so,  he  had  "  allowed  private  men,  and  even  the  assertors 
of  damned  heresies,  to  judge  in  such  questions  ;"  had  pre- 
sumed "  to  give  judgment  concerning  ecclesiastical  posses- 
sions, and  had  restored  to  honours  and  dignity  men  who  were 
out  of  the  communion  of  the  church,  and  long  ago  con- 
demned by  his  own  edicts."  Then,  alluding  to  the  em- 
peror's alliance  with  the  King  of  England,  an  excommuni- 
cated heretic  (which  appeared  to  the  pope  little  less  portent- 
ous than  that  of  the  French  king  with  the  Turkish  sultan), 
he  declared  "  his  fears  to  be  still  further  increased  when  he 
considered  who  the  persons  were  with  whom  he  had  con- 
tracted friendship."  He  refers  him  to  the  examples  of 
Scripture,  Corah,  Dathan,  Abirara,  Uzzah,  and  King  Uzziah, 
from  which  he  might  learn  "the  wrath  and  vengeance  of 
God  against  those  who  usurped  to  themselves  the  offices 
of  the  high-priest."  Many  other  instances  in  history  also 
showed  "  that  God  had  signally  crowned  with  honour  and 
blessings  those  princes  who  assisted  the  head  of  the  church 
and  the  see  of  Rome,  and  rendered  that  love  and  duty  which 
are  due  to  the  priesthood  ;  whereas  such  as  did  otherwise 
were  afflicted  with  most  grievous  punishments."  "The 
care  of  the  churches  was  indeed  an  office  most  acceptable  to 
God,  but  it  did  not  belong  to  the  emperor,  a  civil  governor, 
but  to  the  priests,  and  specially  to  himself,  to  whom  God 
had  given  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing."  He  called 
upon  him  therefore  to  rescind  and  annul  what,  with  too 
much  lenity,  he  had  granted  to  those  rebels  and  enemies 
against  the  see  of  Rome,  for  that  otherwise  he  must  deal 
with  him  more  severely  than  his  custom,  or  his  nature  and 
inclination,  would  lead  him  to  do. 

On  this  and  another  paper,  which  issued  from  Rome, 
written  in  the  same  strain,  Luther  published  severe  animad- 
versions ;  but  the  emperor  contented  himself  with  a  brief  and 
general  reply,  couched,  however,  in  tenns  which  were  not 
suited  to  give  the  Protestants  a  favourable  impression  of  his 
intentions  towards  them. 

This  strong  remonstrance  of  the  pope,  with  the  fear  of 
driving  him  to  throw  himself  entirely  into  the  arms  of  the 
King  of  France,  is  thought  to  have  had  influence,  in  con- 
nexion with  other  causes,  in  inducing  the  emperor  hastily 
to  conclude  a  peace,  within  three  or  four  months  after  he 


142  HERMAN   ARCHBISHOP 

had,  with  so  much  pains,  and  at  the  expense  of  so  great 
concessions,  prevailed  upon  his  German  subjects  heartily  to 
second  him  in  the  French  war.  Accordingly  we  shall  find, 
that  from  the-  period  of  this  peace  with  France  a  new  line 
of  policy,  big  with  important  events  to  the  Protestants,  was 
adopted  ;  and  indeed  that  provision  was  made  in  the  treaty 
itself  for  its  being  acted  upon  conjointly  both  by  Charles 
and  Francis. 

But  our  attention  must  first  be  drawn  to  the  zealous  and 
determined  efforts  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  in  the  cause 
of  the  reformation. 

Herman  Count  De  Wied,  descended  from  an  ancient 
and  illustrious  family  bearing  that  title,  had  been  appointed 
Archbishop  of  Cologne,  and  in  virtue  of  that  dignity  an 
elector  of  the  empire,  in  the  year  1515.  He  was  previously 
Bishop  of  Paderborn.  Even  Maimbourg  gives  him  the 
character,  before  he  became  infected  with  the  mania  of  the 
reformation,  of  "  a  good  man,  of  mild  manners,  very  chari- 
table to  the  poor,  and  zealous  for  the  Catholic  faith."  The 
last  of  these  virtues,  it  seems,  he  had  evinced  in  a  striking 
manner  on  taking  possession  of  the  bishopric  of  Paderborn ; 
for,  finding  that  Lutheranism  had  obtained  some  footing 
there,  he  forcibly  expelled  the  preachers,  and  denounced  the 
penalty  of  death  against  such  as  should  continue  to  profess 
that  doctrine.  In  the  year  1536,  we  find  him  holding  a  pro- 
vincial council,  at  the  desire  of  his  people,  and  summoning 
all  the  bishops  belonging  to  his  jurisdiction,  namely,  those 
of  Liege,  Utrecht,  Munster,  Osnaburg,  and  Minden.  This 
council  made  several  canons  concerning  doctrine  and  cere- 
monies, which  were  afterward  compiled  into  a  book  by 
John  Gropper,  Archdeacon  of  Cologne,  the  reputed  author 
of  the  book  submitted  by  the  emperor  at  the  late  conference 
at  Ratisbon,  and  one  of  the  three  collocutors  nominated  by 
him  on  that  occasion.  Maimbourg  pronounces  these  canons 
admirably  adapted  "  for  the  preservation  of  pure  religion, 
good  discipline,  and  correct  manners  :"  the  judgment  of 
Sleidan  and  Melancthon,  however,  was,  that  they  "  palliated 
almost  all  the  popish  tenets,  and  coloured  them  with  new 
interpretations."  This  was  a  remedy  little  adapted  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  diocess  of  Cologne,  which  by  the  testimony 


OF    COLOGNE.  143 

of  the  archbishop  himself  was  in  a  deplorable  state  of  igno* 
ranee,  superstition,  and  vice. 

Accordingly,  the  book  gave  no  satisfaction ;  and  the 
archbishop,  in  proportion  as  his  light  increased,  grew  dis- 
pleased with  it.  Hence  he  three  years  afterward  sent  a 
confidential  person  to  Melancthon  to  confer  with  him,  and 
to  invite  him  to  visit  the  archbishop,  that  they  might  consult 
together  concerning  further  reformation.  Melancthon  com- 
mended his  design,  and  suggested  important  advice,  but 
did  not  visit  Cologne  till  some  years  afterward. 

After  the  late  conferences  at  Ratisbon,  it  appears  Gropper 
mightily  commended  Bucer  to  the  archbishop,  as  "of  all 
men  the  fittest  to  be  intrusted  with  the  reformation  of 
religion,  as  he  was  both  very  learned,  a  lover  of  peace,  and 
of  good  and  upright  life :"  on  which  the  archbishop,  who 
had  some  previous  knowledge  of  him,  sent  for  him  to  Co- 
logne, where  he  was  "  most  courteously  received,  particu- 
larly by  Gropper ;  and,  on  parting  with  him,  the  arch- 
bishop made  him  promise  to  return  when  he  should  again 
send  for  him."  Bucer,  in  letters  to  the  landgrave,  declared, 
that  Gropper  either  sincerely  assented  to  the  evangelical 
doctrine,  or  with  solemn  asseverations  pretended  it. 

The  recess  of  Ratisbon  (in  which  the  pope's  legate  had 
concurred)  having  enjoined  on  all  prelates  to  promote  "  a 
holy  reformation  in  their  several  provinces  and  diocesses" — 
which,  however,  was  afterward  explained  to  mean  a  reform- 
ation of  manners  only,  and  not  of  doctrines  or  ceremonies 
— the  archbishop  availed  himself  of  it,  and  called  a  conven- 
tion of  his  states,  to  take  into  consideration  the  complying 
with  this  authoritative  recommendation.  It  was  resolved 
that  the  work  should  be  proceeded  in  ;  and  the  archbishop 
appointed  persons  to  draw  up  a  scheme  of  reformation,  and 
to  select  able  and  faithful  ministers  to  occupy  the  churches. 
When  the  plan  was  prepared,  he  sent  it  to  the  clergy 
of  Cologne,  desiring  their  judgment  upon  it  according  to  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  but  they  showed  no  disposition  to  comply 
with  his  demand.  After  a  sufficient  time,  therefore,  had 
elapsed,  and  nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  them,  he  again 
sent  for  Bucer  in  1542,  and  appointed  him  to  preach  at 
Bonn,  the  seat  of  the  archiepiscopal  residence.  He  soon 
after  called  another  convention  of  the  states,  but  the  clergy 
sent  no  deputies  fco  it ;  the  other  orders,  however,  encour- 


144  HERMAN    ARCHBISHOP 

aged  him  to  proceed,  with  the  assistance  of  such  persons  as 
he  might  think  proper  to  select.  Accordingly,  having 
solicited  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
to  send  to  him  for  a  time  Melancthon  and  Pistorius,  he 
associated  them  with  Bucer  ;  and  thus  employed  those  very 
divines  whom  the  emperor  had  selected  as  the  Protestant 
collocutors  at  Ratisbon  to  prepare  his  formulary  of  doc- 
trine, of  ceremonies,  and  of  discipline. 

Melancthon  gives  the  following  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings after  the  book  of  reformation  was  drawn  up.  "  The 
aged  prelate  ordered  the  whole  book  to  be  read  over  to  him 
in  the  presence  of  his  coadjutor  (SchaumburgX  Count 
Stolberg  the  dean,  several  other  principal  persons,  and  my- 
self. He  listened  to  it  with  the  closest  attention,  and  dis- 
coursed much  in  a  serious  and  forcible  manner  on  many 
parts  of  it ;  some  he  with  good  reason  altered  according  to 
his  owrn  judgment,  and  on  others,  after  discussion,  he  pre- 
ferred our  opinion  to  his  own.  To  this  employment  he 
devoted  a  whole  week,  spending  in  it  four  or  five  successive 
hours  every  morning.  I  could  not  but  admire  the  assiduity 
of  the  venerable  man  ;  and  I  was  struck  with  the  seriousness 
with  which  he  conducted  the  whole  business  ;  and  of  how 
much  consequence  that  is  I  need  not  tell  you.  He  is  become 
quite  an  acute  judge  in  these  controversies." 

When  he  had  thus  carefully  examined  the  book  himself, 
he  sent  it  to  the  clergy  of  Cologne,  determined  to  be  wanting 
in  no  attention  to  them  ;  and  then  laid  it  before  a  conven- 
tion of  the  states,  desiring  each  order  to  appoint  persons  to 
consult  together,  and  give  their  judgment  upon  it.  The 
clergy,  however,  led  by  the  canons  of  the  cathedral  church 
(high-spirited  men,  all  of  them  of  noble  families),  insisted 
that  Bucer  and  the  other  preachers,  whom  the  people 
flocked  to  hear,  should  be  in  the  first  instance  dismissed,  and 
desired  time  to  be  allowed  them  to  examine  the  book,  though 
they  would  not  join  the  other  orders  in  deliberating  upon  it. 
With  the  first  of  these  demands  the  archbishop  refused  to 
comply,  unless  they  could  prove  any  thing  against  the  per- 
sons whom  they  wished  to  be  removed ;  in  the  second  he 
indulged  them,  though  he  saw  their  design.  Accordingly, 
the  course  they  took  was,  to  publish,  in  opposition  to  the 
archbishop's  book,  a  work  entitled  Antuiidagma,  in  the  pre- 
iace  to  which,  "  after  a  great  deal  of  railing  against  the- 


OF    COLOGNE.  145 

Lutherans,  they  professed  in  plain  terms  that  they  would 
rather  live  under  the  Turk  than  under  a  magistrate  who 
should  embrace  and  defend  that  reformation." 

This  work  likewise  is  ascribed  to  Gropper,  both  by 
Sleidan  and  Maimbourg.  Another  indecent  book  also  was 
published  about  the  same  time,  in  the  name  of  "  the  sec- 
ondary clergy  of  Cologne,"  professedly  against  Bucer,  bufc 
in  reality  against  the  reformation  at  large. 

While  these  things  were  going  on,  the  archbishop 
attended  in  person  the  diet  of  Spires  in  1544,  and  there 
expressed  his  sentiments  with  great  freedom.  "  Reforma- 
tion," he  said,  "was  a  duty  incumbent  not  only  upon  eccle- 
siastical but  upon  civil  rulers,  and  both  one  and  the  other 
sinned  grievously  if  they  postponed  it  even  for  an  hour. 
For  his  own  part,  he  was  determined  to  go  forward  in  the 
course  on  which  he  had  entered  ;  and  he  thought  it  a 
general  rule,  that,  if  the  bishops  would  not  do  it,  the 
princes  ought  to  take  the  lead  in  this  case  of  indispensable 
necessity." 

The  next  step  which  his  refractory  clergy  took  was  to 
threaten  him  with  an  appeal  to  the  pope  and  the  emperor. 
They  accordingly  exhibited  heavy  charges  against  the  arch- 
bishop, as  subverting  the  established  order  of  the  church, 
and  forcing  upon  his  clergy  and  people  the  doctrines  and 
practices  of  the  Lutheran  heresy;  and,  moreover,  as  "intro- 
ducing everywhere  lewd  and  profligate  wretches  under  the 
character  of  teachers  of  religion."  Having  made  him 
acquainted  with  this  appeal,  and  received  his  answer,  that 
be  "  had  done  nothing  but  what  was  his  duty,  and  that  he 
was  determined  to  proceed  in  those  things  which  concerned 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  reformation  of  the  church  ;"  they 
formally  signed  and  transmitted  their  appeal,  procuring  the 
Bishops  of  Liege  and  Utrecht  and  the  university  of  Lou- 
vain  to  concur  with  them  in  it,  and  excluding  from  the 
right  of  voting,  as  accused  persons,  such  of  their  own 
number  as  disagreed  with  them. 

The  canons  of  Cologne,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  pope 
and  the  emperor,  sent  a  deputation  to  Herman,  again  urging 
him  to  abandon  his  designs,  and  in  case  he  refused  to  do 
so,  renouncing  their  allegiance  to  him.  He  promptly  told 
them,  that  it  was  "  not,  in  their  power  to  release  themselves 
from  the  obligation  of  their  oaths,  and  that  the  pretence  to 

Vol.  IL— N 


146  HERMAN   ARCHBISHOP 

do  so  was  a  matter  of  very  ill  example."     For  the  rest,  after 
taking  time  to  advise  w^ith  counsellors,  he  answered,  "  That 
he  had  not  hitherto  acted   without  consideration,  or  from 
levity  of  mind  ;  but  that  for  more  than  fifteen  years  past  he 
had  been  deliberating   with  his   friends  on  the   means  of 
correcting  the   abuses  of  the   church,  and  particularly  the 
intolerable  corruptions  of  the  Court  of  Rome  :  that  he  had 
hoped  that  the  pope  or  the   emperor,  moved  by  the  com- 
plaints of  such   multitudes  of  persons  aggrieved  by  these 
evils,  would   have  found  some  remedy  for  them,  either  by  a 
council  or  through  the  diet ;  but  that  this  had  hitherto  been 
prevented  by  the  artifices  of  Rome  herself :  that,  being  now 
grown  an  old  man,  who  had  need   to  care  seriously  for  the 
peace  of  his  conscience  and  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  he  had 
diligently  applied   himself  to  the  study  of  the   holy  Scrip- 
ture's and  other  pious  writings,  and  had  had  recourse  to  the 
counsels  of  learned  men  ;   and  that  he  had  thus  become  con- 
vinced, by  the  clearest  evidence  from  the  Word  of  God,  that 
that  doctrine   which  in  all  the  successive  diets  the  pope  and. 
others    had   vehemently   opposed  was  indeed  pure,  pious, 
apostolic,  and  divine  truth  ;  that  he  could  not  recede  from 
it  and  from  the  Word  of  God,  but  would  steadfastly  persist 
in  his  purpose,  though  it  should  be   at  the  risk  of  his  pos- 
sessions, his  dignities,  and  his  life  itself;  for  that  he  felt 
his  own  eternal  salvation,  and  that  of  multitudes  beside,  to 
be  at  stake  in  the  present  cause ;  that  in  all  external  and 
civil  affairs,  not  contrary  to  the   express  will  of  God,  the 
emperor  should  find  him  most  dutiful   and  compliant ;  that 
he  felt  a  confidence  of  obtaining  a  testimony  from  all  per- 
sons, that  in  the   station   assigned  him  by  Providence  he 
had,  during  so  long  a  term  of  years,  conducted  himself  in 
such  a  manner   that   no   one   had  just  cause  of  complaint 
against   him."     He  further  afiirmed,  that  "  in  prosecuting 
his  plan  of  reformation,  he  had  brought  no  burden  of  ex- 
pense upon  the  archiepiscopal  revenues,  but  had  supported 
twelve    or   fifteen   preachers   in   his  province    at    his    own 
charge,  and  chiefly  from  his  private  patrimony,  without  their 
receiving  any  stipend  from  the  funds  of  the  church ;   and, 
if  for  what  he   had  done   in   this  most   righteous,  religious, 
and   truly  honourable   cause,  he  was  now,  in  his  extreme 
old  age,  to  be  still  infested  as  he  had  hitherto  been  by  the 
opposition  of  his  canons,  and  should  thus  eventually,  either 


OF  COLOGNE.  147 

by  force  or  fraud,  be  despoiled  of  his  office  and  dignity,  he 
left  that  to  God,  the  supreme  and  righteous  Judge  ;  nor 
would  it  be  at  all  grievous  to  him  if,  as  he  had  been  born, 
so  he  should  die,  simply  Count  of  Wied ;  his  family  would 
receive  and  support  him  for  his  remaining  days  :  but  he 
would  testify  by  public  writings,  both  his  own  and  those 
of  the  learned  men  with  whom  he  had  advised,  that  he  had 
avowed  and  defended  pure  doctrine,  as  his  solemn  engage- 
ments bound  him  to  do ;  and  that  he  had  most  anxiously 
desired  that  his  provinces  might  be  rescued  from  the  com- 
plicated idolatry  in  which  they  were  involved,  and  receive 
the  right  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Still,  however,  the  archbishop  continued  to  be  harassed 
by  addresses  from  the  pope,  the  other  archbishops  of  Ger- 
many, the  doctors  of  Louvain,  and  the  emperor's  ministers. 
At  length,  in  the  diet  of  Worms,  held  in  the  year  1545, 
where  Gropper  appeared  and  heavily  accused  the  arch- 
bishop, the  emperor  received  the  appeal  against  him  ;  took 
the  canons  of  Cologne  under  his  protection,  forbidding  any 
one,  under  pain  of  proscription  to  molest  them  in  their 
religion,  their  revenues,  or  their  rights  ;  commanded  them 
to  proceed  against  the  professors  of  the  Protestant  faith, 
and  cited  Herman  himself  to  appear  before  him  within 
thirty  days,  either  personally  or  by  his  proctor,  to  answer 
the  charges  laid  against  him.  This  was  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  a  similar  citation  from  the  pope,  requiring  Her- 
man, with  the  Dean  of  Cologne,  and  five  others  of  the 
canons,  who,  says  Sleidan,  "  loved  the  archbishop,  and  dis- 
approved the  deed  of  the  rest,"  to  appear,  in  like  manner,  at 
Rome  within  sixty  days,  to  give  account  of  their  conduct 
before  the  tribunal  of  his  holiness. 

To  the  former  of  these  citations  Herman  answered,  by 
sending  his  proctor  to  the  emperor  at  Brussels,  though  by 
his  electoral  privileges  he  w^as  not  obliged  to  make  any 
appearance  out  of  the  limits  of  the  empire.  It  seems  also 
that  the  emperor,  in  his  way  from  Worms,  saw  him  person- 
ally, and  significantly  reminded  him  that  his  archiepiscopal 
dignity  depended  on  the  will  of  the  pope,  and  that  from  it 
the  electorate  was  inseparable."  Herman,  however,  was 
still  firm,  and  insisted  upon  it  that  he  had  done  no  more 
than  his  duty  required  ;  and  declared  that,  "  as  great  num- 
bers of  his  people  had  heard  with  profit  the  preachers  whom 


148  HERMAN  ARCHBISHOP 

he  had  introduced,   he   could  not  m  conscience  remove 
them." 

To  the  citation  of  the  pope,  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
made  any  answer  at  all  ;  while  the  clergy  vigorously  prose- 
cuted their  appeal.  In  consequence,  on  the  16th  of  April, 
1546,  the  pope  pronounced  sentence  of  deprivation  and 
excommunication  against  him  ;  released  his  subjects  from 
their  allegiance,  and  discharged  them  from  yielding  him  any 
obedience  in  future.  He  at  the  same  time  appointed  Adolphus 
Count  Schaumburg  his  successor — a  person  whom  the  arch- 
bishop had  long  before  made  his  coadjutor,  and  who  had 
been  "  always  as  dear  to  him  as  a  brother."  The  emperor 
was  called  upon  to  see  this  decree  carried  into  etfect :  but, 
as  his  schemes  against  the  Protestants  were  not  yet  fully  ripe 
for  execution,  and  the  archbishop  refused  to  surrender  his 
office,  alleging  that  he  "  could  not  do  it  with  a  safe  con- 
science," it  slept  for  some  little  time  longer.  But  in  Janu- 
ary, 1547,  the  emperor  having  then  obtained  great  advan- 
tages over  the  Protestants,  and  being  prepared  to  execute 
the  decree  by  force  of  arms,  Herman,  in  order  to  save  his 
country  from  becoming  the  scene  of  war  and  bloodshed, 
consented  to  resign  (though  most  of  his  states,  except  the 
clergy,  seemed  ready  to  support  him),  and  Schaumburg  on 
the  35th  of  that  month  took  possession  of  his  place  and 
dignity.  Thus  had  Herman  the  honour  of  being  the  first 
sovereign  prince  in  Germany  (though  not  the  last),  that 
lost  his  dignities  and  dominions  in  the  cause  of  the  blessed 
reformation  ;  and  Charles  gave  the  first  specimen  of  the 
use  he  would  make  of  that  unlimited  power  at  which  he 
aspired,  in  deposing  a  venerable  old  man,  who  twenty-seven 
years  before  had  been  one  of  those  who  raised  him  to  the , 
imperial  throne  ! 

The  deprived  archbishop  retired  to  his  native  country, 
where  he  lived  in  privacy  between  five  and  six  years,  till  his 
death,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1552,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  He  continued  "  obstinate  in  his  heresy"  to  the  last, 
says  Maimbourg  :  but  Sleidan's  account  will  doubtless  be 
thought  by  the  reader  less  prejudiced,  as  well  as  more 
pleasing.  "He- had  such  an  end,"  says  that  faithful  histo- 
rian, "  as  he  desired  ;  for  many  times  he  had  wished  that 
he  might  either  be  permitted  to  propagate  the  gospel,  and 
reform  the  church  within  his  territories,  or  else  to  lead  a 


OF  COLOGNE.  149 

private  life  :  and,  being  sometimes  admonished  by  his  friends 
that  he  drew  upon  himself  great  hatred  and  ill-will  by 
changing  his  religion,  he  used  to  answer,  that  nothing  could 
take  him  by  surprise,  for  he  had  long  since  made  up  his 
mind  for  all  events." 

The  mighty  change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  good 
archbishop  since  he  was  a  persecutor  at  Paderborn,  may 
even  remind  us  of  that  which  converted  Saul  of  Tarsus 
into  an  apostle  of  the  faith  "which  once  he  destroyed." 
His  meekness  is  confessed  even  by  his  enemies  ;  his  humility 
and  piety  were  in  many  instances  conspicuous,  and  in  none 
more  so  than  in  the  manner  in  which  he  bore  adversity  ; 
and  the  spectacle  of  an  old  man,  whose  constitutional  fail- 
ing had  perhaps  been  timidity,  raised  to  all  the  vigour, 
the  exertion,  and  the  resolution  which  we  have  witnessed — 
prepared  to  brave  all  dangers,  and  to  make  the  most  costly 
sacrifices  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  dutj' — is  delightful  to 
contemplate,  and  shows  how  Divine  grace  can  change  and 
exalt  the  human  character. 

Herman  had  declined  on  various  accounts  to  join  the 
league  of  Smalkald  ;  yet  so  much  were  the  confederates 
attached  to  him,  that  they  repeatedly  interposed  in  his  behalf; 
and  they  finally  determined  to  support  him,  had  they  been 
able  to  stand  themselves.  Among  the  persons  deprived  with 
him  were  Count  Stolberg,  the  dean,  and  Herman's  own 
brother  Frederic,  who  had  for  ten  years  held  the  bishopric  of 
Munster,  but  resigned  it  in  1532,  because  he  could  not  there 
carry  things  according  to  his  conscience.  He  at  this 
time  held  the  provostship  of  Bonn,  which  Gropper  obtained 
in  addition  to  his  other  benefices,  in  reward  of  the  part 
he  had  acted.  Under  the  administration  of  the  new  arch- 
bishop, the  reformation  which  had  been  introduced  was 
wholly  set  aside :  the  preachers  expelled ;  and  all  that 
excessive  superstition  of  which  Melancthon  had  complained, 
and  which  gave  to  Cologne  the  appellation  of  "  the  Rome 
of  Germany,"  was  restored.* 

The  history  of  the  Bishop  of  Munster  is  a  counterpart  of 
that  of  the  Archbishop  of   Cologne,  except  that  his  canons 

*Herman's  Scheme  of  Reformation,  drawn  up  by  Bucer  and  Melanc- 
ttion,  which  forms  a  good-sized    12mo.  or  8vo.  volume,  was  translated 
rato  English,  and  twice  printed  in  London  ;  the  second  edition  in  154S. 
N2 


150  BISHOP  OF  MUNSTER. 

showed  less  virulent  hostility  against  him,  and  that  it  seems 
not  certain  that  he  stood  equally  tirm  to  the  last.  The  bishop- 
ric of  Munster  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  powerful 
in  Germany  ;  and,  in  addition  to  it,  Francis  Count  Wal- 
deck  (the  same  who,  in  the  year  1535,  subdued  the  anabap- 
tists) possessed  the  bishoprics  of  Osnaburg  and  Minden. 
Several  years  before,  strong  measures  had  been  adopted  by 
the  senate  for  estabUshing  the  reformed  doctrine  in  the  city 
of  Munster.  The  Protestants  presented  to  the  senate  a  list  of 
the  errors  of  popery,  under  thirty  heads,  pledging  themselves 
to  support  their  charges  against  any  persons  that  might  un- 
dertake to  refute  them.  The  senate  called  upon  the  clergy 
to  maintain  their  tenets  against  the  innovators,  and  on  their 
failing  to  do  so,  required  them  to  resign  their  pulpits  to  the 
new  teachers.  The  clergy  retired  from  the  city  in  disgust, 
and  in  concert  with  their  bishop  commenced  some  hostile 
proceedings  against  the  senate  and  citizens.  These  differ- 
ences, however,  were  composed  by  a  treaty,  in  which  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  as  well  as  the  Bishop  of  Munster,  took 
a  part,  and  by  which  six  churches  in  the  city  were  ceded  to 
the  Protestants,  and  their  antagonists  left  in  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  cathedral. 

Even  at  that  time  the  bishop  appears  not  to  have  been  indis- 
posed to  reformation ;  but  the  phrensy  of  the  anabaptists 
under  John  of  Leyden  and  other  leaders  succeeded,  and  threw 
all  things  into  confusion.  Ten  years  after,  in  the  year  1544, 
after  having  for  some  time  connived  at  the  preaching  of  the 
evangelical  doctrine  in  the  principal  cities  under  his  juris- 
diction, Francis  openly  recommended  reformation  to  the 
assembly  of  his  states.  The  chapters  of  can  ons  opposed 
him,  acting  in  concert  with  those  of  Cologne,  and  avowing 
their  determination  to  adhere  to  an  imperial  mandate  which 
they  had  received,  enjoining  them  to  withstand  all  innova- 
tions. The  bishop,  however,  alleged  the  decree  of  Ratisbon, 
and  said  that  "  it  was  incumbent  upon  him,  both  in  pursu- 
ance of  that  decree,  and  by  his  rights  and  duties  as  a  prince, 
to  see  that  the  people  of  his  province  were  instructed  in 
Christian  truth  and  duty,  by  competent  preachers.  He  felt 
the  necessity  of  having  pastors  who  should  explain  to  the 
people  the  doctrine  of  repentance  and  remission  of  sins, 
and  teach  them  to  observe  all  things  that  Christ  had  com- 
manded :  for  he  had  founds  with  great  pain,  that  just  notion* 


BISHOP  OF   MUNSTER.  15 1 

of  repentance  scarcely  existed  among  them  ;  and  that  they 
were  so  ill  informed  as  to  seek  the  Divine  favour  through 
the  medium  of  images,  relics,  and  ceremonies  which  they 
did  not  understand,  while  faith  in  Christ  (with  which  con- 
trition for  sin,  charity,  and  good  works  were  inseparably 
connected)  was  utterly  disregarded.  The  sacraments, 
moreover,  which  ought  to  be  administered  and  received  with 
that  just  understanding  of  their  nature  and  design,  and 
with  that  faith  and  devotion,  that  men  might  by  means  of 
them  be  really  united  to  Christ,  and  strengthened  in  faith 
more  and  more,  were  irreverently  and  shamefully  abused  ; 
while  the  basest  simony  and  grasping  at  gain  were  every- 
where practised.  In  other  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
church  also,  in  the  singing  and  the  prayers,  which  ought  all 
to  be  conducted  to  the  instruction  and  edification  of  the  people, 
the  clergy  themselves  did  not  understand  what  they  sang  or 
read  :  all  was  gone  through  without  the  heart  being  engaged 
in  it,  and  without  improvement  either  to  themselves  or 
others.  All  this  was  highly  offensive  to  God,  and  con- 
demned by  the  inspired  writers.  The  lives  of  the  clergy 
also  were  shamefully  corrupt.  By  these,  and  other  weighty 
causes,  he  said,  he  had  been  induced,  in  virtue  of  his  office, 
to  make  some  commencement  of  reformation,  by  the  pure 
preaching  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments  according  to  their  original  appointment,  in  some 
parts  of  his  territories  ;  and  he  now  trusted  that  he  should 
have  the  support  of  his  states  in  carrying  the  same  into 
effect  generally.  He  doubted  not  that  he  should  be  able  to 
justify  his  proceedings  to  the  emperor.  But,  if  he  were  dis- 
appointed in  these  hopes,  and  should  have  to  encounter  the 
same  sort  of  difficulties  as  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  prophets, 
apostles,  and  the  servants  of  God  in  all  ages,  his  states 
would  remember  the  answer  made  to  the  Jewish  council : 
*  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men  :'  and  it  would  be 
more  tolerable  for  him  to  draw  down  upon  himself  the  dis- 
pleasure of  men  than  the  anger  of  God.  In  all  civil  mat- 
ters, however,  he  would  always  be  ready  to  perform  due 
service  to  the  emperor,  as  he  had  hitherto  done." 

The  proposals  thus  piously  and  forcibly  urged,  met  the  ap- 
probation of  all  the  orders  except  the  clergy  ;  who  still  ex- 
pressed their  determination  to  adhere  to  the  emperor's  direc- 
tions.    They  would  not,  however,  they  said,  now  enter  into 


152  BISHOP  OF  MUNSTER. 

dispute  with  their  bishop  ;  but  they  trusted  they  should  still  be 
left  in  possession  of  the  cathedral  church,  to  conduct  the 
services  and  ceremonies  there  according  to  their  own  senti- 
ments. The  bishop  replied,  "  that  neither  would  he  move 
disputes  with  them  ;  that  with  pious  and  benevolent  inten- 
tions he  aimed  at  the  reformation  of  abuses ;  that  he 
should  employ  no  force  against  those  who  declined  to 
comply  vs^ith  his  wishes ;  but  that  he  would  not  depart 
from  his  purpose  of  introducing  reformation,  and  the 
preaching  of  the  true  gospel  of  Christ." 

These  were  the  bright  prospects  of  the  province  in  the 
year  1544.  Soon  after  that,  the  pope  succeeded  in  stirring 
up  the  emperor  to  take  more  decisive  measures  against  the 
reformation  :  the  Smalkaldic  war  followed,  and  the  good  de- 
signs of  the  Bishop  of  Munster  were  frustrated.  In  the  year 
1547,  he  was  cited  to  Rome  by  the  pope,  to  answer  the  charge 
of  defection  from  the  Catholic  faith :  but  the  canons  on  this 
occasion  interposed  their  good  offices  on  his  behalf,  urging 
particularly  the  services  he  had  formerly  rendered  in  the 
suppression  of  the  anabaptists.  Hence  he  is  supposed  to 
have  yielded  improperly  to  the  prevailing  torrent,  after 
Charles's  triumph  over  the  Protestant  powers.  If  so,  we 
may  trust  that  he  was  "  chastened  of  the  Lord,  that  he 
might  not  be  condemned  with  the  world  :"  for  he  afterward 
suffered  in  the  conflicts  v^'hich  arose  among  his  neighbours, 
and  the  more  severely  for  his  former  close  alliance  with  the 
landgrave  :  he  was  plundered  of  his  wealth,  and  even  lost 
his  bishoprics  ;  and  was  reduced  to  live  as  an  exile  in  his 
own  city  of  Munster,  dependent  on  the  liberality  of  the 
citizens.  He  died  July  15,  1553.  Chytrseus  commends 
him  as  a  prince  of  high  character,  distinguished  for  piety, 
wisdom,  justice,  and  clemency.  Munster  is  to  be  added  to 
the  list  of  those  places  in  which  the  light  of  the  reformation 
was  extinguished  again,  ere  it  had  well  dawned  upon  the 
people. 

In  other  places,  however,  happier  success  still  attended  the 
efforts  made  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  Divine  truth,  and 
to  correct  the  abuses  which  prevailed.  The  town  and  ad- 
joining district  of  Ruthen  in  Voightland,  the  city  and  dis- 
trict of  Roienburg,  and  the  principality  of  Henneberg,  both 
in  Franconia,  are  particularly  mentioned.  In  the  second 
of  these  places  the  reformation  was  almost   universally 


PRINCES  OF    HENNEBERG.  153 

embraced  by  the  votaries  in  religious  houses,  as  well  as  by 
other  classes  of  the  people ;  so  that  in  the  year  1546  no 
more  than  one  monk  and  two  aged  nuns  were  found  remain- 
ing. The  zeal  also  of  the  inhabitants,  and  their  eagerness 
to  hear  the  Word  of  God,  are  represented  as  very  striking. 
Numbers  fell  on  their  knees  in  the  churches,  and  with  tears 
of  joy  thanked  God  for  their  deliverance  from  the  supersti- 
tion in  which  they  had  lived. 

But  the  account  of  Henneberg  is  attended  with  the  most 
interesting  and  remarkable  particulars.  William,  prince  of 
that  territory,  had  been  a  zealous  devotee  in  the  cause  of 
Romish  superstition  ;  the  institutor  of  associations  and  ob- 
servances designed  to  perpetuate  it ;  and  a  persecutor  of 
those  who  revolted  from  it :  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  he 
trained  up  his  sons,  three  of  whom  he  dedicated  to  the 
sacred  office,  in  the  same  principles.  His  eldest  son  and 
successor,  however,  George  Ernest,  attended  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  to  the  diet  of  Augsburg  in  the  year  1530  :  and 
there  it  pleased  God  that  he .  should  receive  the  seeds  of 
Divine  truth,  which  gradually  sprung  up,  and  were  after- 
ward cherished  by  the  piety  of  his  wife,  EUzabeth,  daughter 
of  Eric  Duke  of  Brunswick  and  of  Elizabeth  of  Brandenburg, 
before  mentioned.  Poppo  also,  another  son  of  William's, 
and  a  canon  of  Wurtzburg,  disgusted  with  the  lives  of  the 
higher  popish  clergy  (of  which  his  situation  had  given  him 
sufficient  experience),  and  impressed  with  the  piety  of  his 
brother,  became  equally  inclined  with  him  to  the  cause  of 
reformation :  and,  little  as  such  an  event  might  have  been 
anticipated,  they  prevailed  upon  their  father,  whose  mind  we 
must  suppose  to  have  undergone  a  gradual  but  great  change, 
not  only  to  yield  to  their  wishes,  but  heartily  to  concur  with 
them.  The  assistance  of  John  Forster,  a  pious  divine  of 
Wittemberg,  was  solicited  and  obtained  ;  and  the  Protestant 
faith  was  in  the  year  1644  publicly  professed.  William,  as 
he  was  a  late,  so  he  proved  a  zealous  and  persevering 
labourer  in  the  cause.  Aided  by  his  sons,  he  settled  the 
ecclesiastical  affiiirs  of  his  principality  in  an  excellent  order: 
and  so  determined  a  spirit  did  he  show,  that,  when  the  Prot- 
estant confederation  was  broken  and  crushed,  and  all  men 
were  trembling  before  the  power  of  the  emperor,  he  reso- 
lutely refused  the  Interim  (a  corrupt  mixture  of  popery  and 
Protestantism),  prescribed  by  that  potentate  in  the  year 


154  GEORGE  PRINCE  OF  ANHALT. 

1548.  He  even  wrote  to  him  early  in  the  year  following  to 
this  effect :  "  That  he  had  the  fullest  conviction,  that  nothing 
was  taught  in  the  churches  of  his  principality  which  was 
not  clearly  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  commanded  to 
be  taught  by  our  only  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  received  in 
the  primitive  and  apostolic  church.  That  these  things  he 
and  those  connected  with  him  embraced,  and  would  confess 
in  the  face  of  the  whole  world,  at  the  risk  of  their  fortunes 
and  their  lives.  That,  in  all  other  respects,  he  had  no  more 
anxious  desire  than  to  discharge  his  duty  to  the  emperor ; 
and  that  the  same  was  earnestly  inculcated  upon  his  people 
by  their  pastors."  He  begs  therefore  that  he  may  not  be 
required  to  receive  the  Interim  ;  but  that  what  he  has  already 
established  in  his  province  may  remain  undisturbed.  He 
adds,  that  the  emperor  ought  to  conclude,  that  a  man  who, 
for  temporal  considerations,  would  surrender  what  he  was 
convinced  in  his  own  conscience  was  the  truth  and  will  of 
God,  was  not  likely  to  prove  faithful  to  his  earthly  superior. 
Here  again  an  open  and  manly  avowal  of  principle  proved 
to  be  the  best  policy.  William  remained  undisturbed, 
amid  all  the  changes  which  took  place  :  he  lived  till  the 
year  1559,  aiid  then  died,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  in 
the  pious  and  unwavering  confession  of  the  true  faith  of 
the  gospel. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


George  Prince  of  Anhalt — Bugenhagius  Pomeranus — Diet  of 
Worms — Council  of  Trent — Alarm  of  the  Protestants — 
Their  Leaders — Artifices  of  the  Emperor — Diet  and  Con- 
ferences of  Ratishon — Preparations  for  War — Reformation 
of  the  Loiver  Palatinate,  and  of  Lcuikirk. 

The  histories  of  some  other  eminent  individuals  present 
themselves  under  the  period  assigned  to  the  chapter  ;  and 
we  will  first  lay  them  before  the  reader. 

George  Prince  of  Anhalt  is  one  of  them.  This  excellent 
man  appears  to  have  been  blessed  with  pious  and  judicious 


GEORGE  PRINCE  OF   ANHALT.  155 

parents,  to  whose  care  of  his  education,  though  they  were 
themselves  to  a  considerable  degree  involved  in  the  prevail- 
ing darkness  and  superstition,  and  though  he  lost  his  father 
at  the  early  age  of  eight  years,  he  afterward  felt  himself  to 
be  deeply  indebted.  Of  his  mother,  in  particular,  who  was 
the  granddaughter  of  the  King  of  Bohemia,  we  shall  find  him 
taking  very  pleasing  notice.  He  was  born  in  the  year  1507, 
and  being  a  younger  son,  was  destined  for  the  church.  After 
the  death  of  his  father,  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of 
George  Heldus,  or  Heltus,  of  Forcheim,  a  learned  and  pious 
instructer  at  Leipzig ;  who  had  also  Joachim  Camerarius 
and  Caspar  Cruciger  for  his  scholars.  Under  his  instruc- 
tion, George  laid  the  foundation  of  a  degree  of  learning  in 
those  days  very  uncommon  in  persons  of  his  rank  in  life. 
He  subsequently  applied  to  the  study  of  jurisprudence,  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two  was  admitted  into  the  council  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magdeburg  ;  in  which  station, 
in  consequence  of  his  talents  and  eloquence,  he  was  em- 
ployed in  much  important  business.  Five  years,  however, 
before  this  time,  when  he  had  attained  only  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, he  had  been  made  provost  of  the  cathedral  church  of 
Magdeburg  :  and,  becoming  deeply  interested  in  the  theolo- 
gical questions  which  were  so  much  agitated,  he  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  fathers  ;  still 
availing  himself  of  the  suggestions  of  his  old  tutor  Heltus. 
In  order  to  read  the  Sacred  Writings  with  greater  advantage, 
he  diligently  cultivated  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  languages  ;  in  the  latter  of  which  his  proficiency  is 
particularly  praised.  But  of  these  his  theological  studies, 
and  of  the  result  of  them,  we  must  attend  to  the  very  in- 
teresting account  which  he  himself  has  given  us. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  he  had  for  the  guardians  of  his 
youth  three  of  the  most  devoted  supporters  of  the  papal 
superstition,  and  opponents  of  the  Protestant  cause,  that 
the  age  produced — Albert  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  Joachim  I. 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  George  Duke  of  Saxony.  These, 
of  course,  opposed  every  obstacle  to  his  approximation  to 
the  sentiments  of  Luther  :  and  it  is  to  his  correspondence 
with  the  bigoted  Duke  of  Saxony,  extending  from  the  year 
1.^33  to  1539,  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  fullest  account  of 
the  progress  of  his  religious  inquiries. 

"With  good  conscience,"  he  declares,  "he  could  say 


156  GEORGE  PRINCE  OF   ANHALT. 

with  St.  Paul,  that  from  his  early  youth  he  had  felt  an  ardent 
zeal  for  the  law  of  his  fathers  ;  for  the  ceremonies,  the  cus- 
toms, and  the  doctrines  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up. 
Against  those  principles,  therefore,  which  were  opposed  to 
them,  and  tended,  as  he  conceived,  to  subvert  every  good 
institution,  and  to  introduce  all  sorts  of  evil,  he  had  cherished 
the  most  uncompromising  hostility.  But  ail  the  time  he 
was  acting  only  upon  hearsay  and  ex-parte  evidence  :  for 
he  avoided,  with  a  degree  of  horror,  the  reading  of  books 
which  he  understood  to  be  surcharged  with  poison.  He 
began  however  to  reflect,  that,  as  a  member  of  the  church 
and  of  the  ecclesiastical  order,  it  behooved  him  to  employ 
himself  in  a  more  efficient  manner  in  opposing  the  dan- 
gerous eiforts  of  those  who  were  enemies  to  both.  He 
determined,  therefore,  to  lay  aside  for  a  time  more  amusing 
and  more  lucrative  pursuits,  and,  as  far  as  his  indispensable 
engagements  would  permit,  to  apply  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  Scriptures  and  of  ancient  ecclesiastical  writers,  whom, 
he  was  confidently  persuaded,  he  should  find  interpreting 
the  Scriptures  in  a  widely  different  manner  from  the  modern 
innovators.  Accordingly  he  had  recourse  to  the  doctors  and 
the  canons  of  the  church,  with  no  other  view  than  that  of 
triumphantly  exposing  the  errors  of  the  new  teachers.  But, 
he  exclaims,  O  God,  what  shall  I  say  ?  When  I  examined 
on  all  sides  and  in  all  parts  the  writings  of  the  approved 
doctors,  and  the  ancient  canons,  I  could  nowhere  find  that 
interpretation,  and  those  traditions  which  T  sought,  and  of 
which  I  had  boasted  ;  nor,  when  I  applied  to  persons  who 
had  the  aulhority  of  the  fathers  constantly  in  their  mouths, 
could  they  point  out  any  thing  of  the  kind  to  me  !  On  the 
contrary  I  discovered,  not  only  that  numberless  practical 
abuses,  repugnant  to  the  Scriptures  and  the  determinations 
of  the  fathers,  were  defended  among  us,  but  that  we  had 
departed  widely  indeed  from  the  pure  Christian  doctrine.  I 
saw  that  many  articles  taught  by  the  fathers,  and  sanctioned 
by  councils,  were  now  restored  and  brought  to  light  again, 
after  a  long  ohlivion,  by  those  very  teachers  whom  we  were 
denouncing  as  heretics  :  and  that  the  reasonings  by  which 
our  doctors  now  opposed  them  were  precisely  those  of  the 
ancient  heretics  upon  similar  questions,  which  the  fathers 
of  the  church  had  refuted  and  rejected.  However  it  was  to 
be  accounted  for,  I  saw  that  it  might  be  demonstrated  from 


GEORGE    PRINCE  OF  ANHALT.  157 

these  writincrs,  and  especially  from  those  of  Augustine 
against  the  Pelagians,  that,  in  the  principal  points  now  in 
controversy,  the  sentiments  of  our  writers  ditfered  little  from 
the  dogmas  of  the  heretics  ;  as,  for  instance,  on  the  article 
of  justification,  on  the  cause  of  salvation,  on  free-will,  human 
merits,  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  remission  of  sins,  faith, 
good  works,  and  other  topics  connected  with  them.  In 
these  I  clearly  perceived  that  many  things  which  Augustine 
maintained  in  opposition  to  those  heretics  are  now  con- 
demned by  the  monks  and  their  adherents  ;  while  those  very 
fundamental  principles  of  the  heretical  doctrines  are  asserted, 
which  Augustine  most  zealously  opposed.  But  Almighty 
God,  of  his  infinite  mercy,  ever  kept  alive  in  my  heart  that 
spark  of  Divine  light,  kindled  by  himself,  which  led  me  to 
acknowledge  that  our  salvation  is  by  his  grace,  and  not  for 
our  merits.  I  also  frequently  recalled  to  mind  the  discourse 
on  the  subject  of  salvation,  which,  with  great  pleasure,  I 
had  heard  from  my  dear  uncle,  Adolphus  Bishop  of  Mers- 
burg,  a  little  before  his  death.  A  preacher  having  before 
him  said  much  of  human  merits,  and  extolled  them  highly, 
the  good  bishop  severely  reproved  him,  citing  the  words  of 
the  Psalmist,  '  In  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified.' 
Thrice  he  repeated  and  urged  the  exclusive  terms,  '  No  man 
— no  man  living.'  And  he  himself  at  length  departed  this 
life  in  peace,  in  this  very  confidence  in  the  Divine  mercy,  and 
not  in  any  merits  of  his  own.  In  like  manner,  I  remembered 
that  my  much  loved  mother  held  fast  this  article  with  an 
unwavering  faith ;  of  which  I  not  only  have  the  testimony 
in  her  own  hand-writing,  but  I  could  myself  give  evidence 
to  the  fiict,  from  having  been  present  with  her  to  the  time 
when  she  drew  her  last  breath. 

"  The  consequence  of  all  this  was,  when  I  found  that  the 
persons  on  whom  I  had  unduly  relied,  and  who  hesitated 
not  to  pass  off  all  their  own  notions  as  the  decisions  of  the 
church,  had  erred  so  widely  from  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  sentiments  of  the  fathers,  and  the  determinations  of  the 
holy  Catholic  church  in  this  article,  which  is  the  very  basis 
of  all  Christian  doctrine,  I  was  not  a  little  disturbed  and 
terrified."  He  then  goes  on  to  state  some  further  consid- 
erations which  shook  his  confidence  in  these  teachers,  par- 
ticularly their  making  so  light  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  But 
yet,  he  confesses,  he  was  strongly  prejudiced  against  the 

Vol.  II.— O 


158  GEORGE  PRINCE  OF  ANHALT. 

Lutherans,  from  the  persuasion  that  their  doctrine  was  sub- 
versive of  all  good  works  and  good  order,  and  from  the 
number  of  sects  to  which  they  seemed  to  give  occasion.  He 
calls  God  to  witness,  how  many  sleepless  nights  he  had 
passed,  and  what  anguish  he  had  sutiered,  while  his  mind 
was  held  in  suspense.  Still,  however,  he  adhered  to  his 
principle,  that  our  dependence  must  be  upon  grace,  and  not 
on  our  own  merits  ;  other  points  he  was  willing  to  refer  to 
the  decision  of  a  council.  This  was  about  the  period  of  the 
diet  of  Augsburg.  But  when  he  had  read  the  Confession 
of  the  Protestants  there  presented,  and  saw  that  the  repre- 
sentations which  had  been  made  to  him  of  their  religion  did 
not  correspond  with  it,  he  thought  that  they  must  have  cor- 
rected some  of  their  errors,  and  be  meditating  a  return  to 
the  church.  At  the  same  time  he  was  much  pleased  with 
what  he  found  taught  in  the  Confession,  from  St.  Augustine, 
concerning  free-will  and  some  other  points.  When  after- 
ward he  had  read  the  Apology  for  the  Confession,  and  had 
seen  the  decree  of  Augsburg,  in  which  all  the  old  abuses 
were  sanctioned,  and  the  errors  of  the  various  sects  con- 
founded with  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestants,  and  the  whole 
condemned  together,  he  became  more  and  more  convinced 
that  the  course  adopted  was  unjustifiable.  He  now  had 
recourse  to  the  writings  of  Luther  ;  and  he  found  that  that 
reformer  had  only  met  with  the  same  treatment  that  the 
ancient  prophets  had  done,  who  always  had  the  assertors  of 
human  merits  for  their  enemies.  He  does  not  deny  that  he 
was  offended  at  the  acerbity  of  Luther's  manner  of  writing; 
yet  he  could  not  but  admit  the  truth  of  his  sentiments.  He 
also  called  to  mind  another  observation  of  his  mother's, 
That  she  was  surprised  that  the  teachers  to  whom  she  had 
been  accustomed  spoke  in  no  such  impressive  manner  con- 
cerning the  grace  of  Christ  as  the  new  preachers  did :  she 
confessed  that  she  had  become  better  instructed  upon  this 
subject  from  the  writings  of  the  latter  than  she  had  before 
been  ;  and  she  hoped  that  the  former  would  be  brought  to 
teach  in  this  respect  in  the  same  manner.  It  was  a  stum- 
bling-block indeed  to  him,  that  so  complete  a  reformation  of 
manners  did  not  follow  as  he  would  have  hoped  :  but  then 
he  clearly  saw  that  this  was  not  the  fault  either  of  the 
teachers  or  of  the  instruction  given.  With  respect  to  the 
sects  that  arose  after  the  reformation,  he  reflected,  that 


GEORGE  PRINCE    OF  ANHALT.  159 

Luther  could  not  be  answerable  for  all  which  rash  and 
heady  spirits  among  his  followers  might  advance  ;  that  the 
reformer  had  opposed  such  persons  to  the  utmost  of  his 
ability  ;  that  it  had  been  the  reproach  cast  upon  Christianity 
itself  in  the  early  ages,  that  it  caused  divisions  and  disturb- 
ances ;  that  the  boasted  harmony,  prior  to  the  reformation, 
either  did  not  exist  (for  the  discords  of  the  monks  had  pro- 
duced many  tragical  scenes),  or  it  was  founded  in  ignorance 
and  the  toleration  of  all  sorts  of  abuses  ;  in  short,  it 
amounted  only  to  this,  that  Satan  had  universal  possession 
and  '  his  goods  were  in  peace.'  As  to  the  argument  from 
the  necessity  of  obeying  the  church,  he  considered,  that  the 
church  was  the  spouse  of  Christ,  and  had  not  authority  to 
enjoin  any  thing  but  from  the  Word  of  her  Lord  ;  and  there- 
fore that  due  obedience  was  not  violated  by  resistance  to 
abuses.  Nor  was  he  moved  by  the  reasoning  that,  if  those 
were  indeed  errors  which  Luther  assailed,  then  God  must 
have  deserted  his  church  for  ages  past  :  for  he  perceived 
that,  notwithstanding  these  errors  and  evils,  God  had  still 
had  a  church,  and  persons  who  were  members  of  it,  as  in 
the  corrupt  times  of  Israel :  that  he  had,  indeed,  by  a  right- 
eous but  inscrutable  judgment,  for  the  punishment  of  the 
people's  sins,  permitted  great  darkness  and  corruption  to 
prevail ;  but  that  they  might  expect  still  worse  things  to 
come  upon  them,  if  they  should  now  shut  their  eyes  against 
the  light  which  had  visited  them.  He  reprobates  the  idea 
of  rejecting  the  truth  from  mere  prejudice  against  the  person 
of  Luther  :  nor  would  he,  he  says,  allow  himself  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  the  consideration,  that  the  professors  of  the  new 
doctrine  might  subject  themselves  to  the  loss  of  rank  and 
wealth  ;  for  that  things  of  that  kind  were  not  promised  to 
Christians,  and  ought  not  to  be  desired  by  them  :  and,  with 
respect  to  the  hatred  of  men,  he  remembered  the  apostle's 
saying,  '  If  I  were  a  man-pleaser,  I  should  not  be  the  servant 
of  Jesus  Christ.'  He  trusts  in  God,  however,  to  make  'even 
his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him.'  " 

At  the  close  of  his  correspondence  with  George  of  Sax- 
ony he  observes,  that  "  he  would  not  further  harass  a  per- 
son who  was  now  grown  old,  to  whom  he  owed  obligations, 
and  whom  on  many  accounts  he  highly  respected  ;  but  that 
daily,  as  often  as  he  repeated  the  words  of  the  Lord's 
prayer,  '  thy  will  be  done,'  he  prayed,  and  would  not  cease 


160  GEORGE  PRINCE  OF  ANIIALT. 

to  pray,  for  him.'      This  was  in  the  year  1538,  only  one 
year  before  the  death  of  the  duke. 

The  careful  consideration  of  the  statements  now  before 
us  cannot  but  be  both  impressive  and  useful.  Not  only  do 
they  evince  the  integrity  of  George's  mind  ;  they  show  also 
what  would  be  the  result  of  a  candid  examination  to  many 
others  besides  Roman  Catholics,  who  now  proceed  very 
confidently  under  the  influence  of  earJy  prejudices,  or  in 
blind  reliance  upon  what  they  esteem  great  authorities. 

In  the  year  1541,  at  the  time  of  the  diet  of  Ratisbon, 
when  hopes  were  entertained  of  an  amicable  arrangement 
between  the  contending  parties,  George  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  emperor,  containing  a  modest  and  respectful  defence 
of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg.  He  entreated  him  not  to 
lend  an  ear  to  the  many  charges  brought  against  the  Protest- 
ants, but  to  examine  the  facts  for  himself.  He  urged  his 
own  case  and  that  of  his  brothers  :  the  most  odious  repre- 
sentations had  been  made  to  them,  as  if  good  works  were 
decried,  all  good  regulations  subverted,  and  the  floodgates  of 
iniquity  thrown  open  by  the  new  doctrine.  They  had  accord- 
ingly resisted  it  as  impious,  with  all  their  might.  But 
those  who  so  represented  it  had  created  a  distrust  in  their 
minds,  by  dissuading  them  from  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
examining  into  the  grounds  of  things  for  themselves  :  and 
the  princes  aftervv'ard  discovered,  that  the  representations  of 
these  persons  were  grossly  false  ;  and  they  felt  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  give  their  subjects  the  benefit  of  the  discoveries 
thus  made.  He  entreats  the  emperor,  therefore,  if  he 
could  not  yet  think  the  Protestants  right,  that  he  would  still 
preserve  the  peace,  and  not  suffer  any  one  to  be  injured  for 
adherence  to  the  Confession.  When  informed  that  the 
emperor  had  received  and  read  his  letter,  he  wrote  again  in 
acknowledgment,  and  sent  him  two  tracts,  one  of  them  a 
Protestant  catechism,  (no  doubt  Luther's) — begging  him 
not  so  much  to  inquire  "  who  wrote  them,  as  what  they 
contained." 

Two  years  afterward  he  endeavoured  to  influence  the  mind 
of  his  kinsman  and  former  guardian,  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz,  in  a  similar  manner,  and  to  induce  him  to  suggest 
healing  counsels  to  the  emperor.  He  beseeches  him  to  re- 
gard "  the  truth  and  eternal  life"  alone,  in  this  important 
case,  and  not  to  lend  himself  to  the  designs  of  the  pope. 


GEORGE    PRINCE    OF    ANHALT.  161 

"  If  only,"  he  says,  "  recourse  could  be  had  to  the  sure 
ground  of  Scripture,  instead  of  human  opinions,  then, 
waiving  all  unnecessary  and  doubtful  points,  we  might 
speedily  have  peace  established  in  Germany,  and  throughout 
the  Christian  world."  He  conjures  him  to  embrace,  and 
support  whatever  he  was  convinced  was  true  and  right,  that 
he  might  never  incur  the  sentence  denounced  against  the 
servant  who  "  knew  his  Lord's  will,  and  did  it  not."  Never 
was  more  appropriate  advice  given  :  for  there  seems  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  archbishop  had  convictions  in 
favour  of  the  reformation,  and  showed  himself,  till  after  the 
diet  of  Augsburg,  less  adverse  to  it  than  many  others  ; 
though  afterward  Luther  considered  him  as  a  principal 
author  of  the  hostile  measures  adopted  against  it. 

Some  months  before  this  address  to  the  archbishop,  he  had 
submitted  to  the  chapter  of  Magdeburg,  to  which  he  be- 
longed, a  plan  of  reformation.  He  appeals  to  their  deeds 
of  foundation,  "written  in  letters  of  gold,  and  splendidly 
ornamented,"  as  declaring  the  end  of  their  institution  to  be 
"  the  study  and  promotion  of  sound  learning,"  in  which  the 
investigation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  theological  learning 
ought  certainly  to  take  the  lead  with  them  as  churchmen. 
He  cites  the  late  decree  of  Ratisbon,  which  enjoined  reform- 
ation on  the  diocesan  :  and  urges  that  it  behooved  them, 
as  the  counsellors  of  their  archbishop,  to  suggest  to  him  the 
nature  and  means  of  that  reformation  ;  without  which  they 
would,  in  fact,  soon  lose  all  their  influence  over  the  people. 
He  strikingly  exposes  the  absurdity,  and  even  profaneness, 
of  private  masses,  in  which  the  priests  went  through  all  the 
service,  using  the  addresses,  "  The  Lord  be  with  you — Lift 
up  your  hearts  unto  the  Lord — Take,  eat,"  &c.,  when  there 
were  no  communicants  present.  This  proposal  for  the 
reformation  of  the  chapter  of  Magdeburg  failed  at  that 
time,  but  it  took  effect  a  few  years  afterward.  George's 
writings  prove  him  to  have  become  a  firm,  zealous,  able,  yet 
mild  and  dignified,  assertor  of  all  the  great  principles  of  the 
reformation. 

In  the  year  1544  died  the  bishop  of  the  important  diocess 
of  Mersburg  ;  and,  by  a  strange  abuse  not  uncommon  in 
those  times,  Augustus,  brother  to  Maurice  Duke  of  Saxony, 
though  a  layman,  and  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  wa? 
unanimously  elected  his  successor.  The  election,  however, 
03 


162  GEORGE  PRINCE  OF   ANHALT. 

proved  highly  beneficial :  for  Augustus  being,  like  his  brotherj 
a  friend  to  the  reformation,  and  fettered  by  no  other  restric- 
tion than  that  of  leaving  the  services  of  the  cathedral 
church  to  the  direction  of  the  canons,  appointed  George  of 
Anhalt,  the  senior  of  their  number,  to  administer  the  eccle- 
siastical affairs  of  the  diocess  according  to  his  own  discre- 
tion, and  with  a  liberal  salary  ;  thus  virtually  conferring 
upon  him  all  the  peculiar  powers  of  a  bishop.  Maurice,  at 
the  same  time,  made  him  ecclesiastical  superintendent  of 
Leipzig,  and  of  such  parts  of  Thuringia  as  belonged  to  his 
jurisdiction  ;  and  he  was  already  spiritual  administrator  of 
Misnia.  Thus  he  was  raised  to  a  sphere  of  usefulness 
suited  to  his  rank,  his  talents,  and  his  piety  ;  and  he  occu- 
pied it  for  five  years  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  high  repu- 
tation he  already  enjoyed. 

In  the  year  1549,  after  the  imperial  edict,  called  the  In- 
terim, had  been  published,  Augustus  of  Saxony,  having 
married  Ann  of  Denmark,  resigned  the  bishopric  of  Mers- 
burg,  and  Heldingus,  one  of  the  three  persons  who  had 
composed  the  Interim,  was  appointed  his  successor.  The 
administration  of  George,  of  course,  ceased  :  but  in  his 
capacity  of  senior  canon,  he  still  firmly  supported  the  Protest- 
ant interest  in  the  diocess.  Joined  by  some  others  of  the 
canons,  he  claimed  of  the  bishop  a  promise  not  to  disturb 
the  order  of  things  which  he  found  established  ;  not  to 
introduce  again  the  abrogated  ceremonies  ;  nor  to  molest 
the  married  clergy.  He  supported  this  demand  by  urging 
certain  irregularities  attending  the  appointment  of  the  new 
bishop,  on  the  ground  of  which  they  might  refuse  to  acknow- 
ledge him.  In  deference,  however,  to  the  imperial  author- 
ity, he  would  consent,  he  said,  to  overlook  these,  provided 
Heldingus  would  give  him  satisfaction  as  to  the  plan  on 
which  he  meant  to  proceed  in  the  government  of  the  dio- 
cess. The  bishop  in  consequence  made  fair  promises  ;  but 
George,  still  cherishing  a  distrust  which  the  event  war- 
ranted, took  care  to  have  his  protest  recorded  ;  in  which  he 
disclaimed  the  authority  of  the  bishop,  and  appealed  to  a 
free  and  Christian  council,  in  case  he  should  not  act  up  to  his 
present  professions.  Having  done  this,  he  said  he  would 
now  attend  him  to  the  cathedral  church,  and  join  in  imploring 
for  him  the  grace  and  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but 
still  not  pledging  himself,  by  that  concurrence  in  his  inaugu- 


GEORGE  PRINCE  OF  ANHALT.  163 

ration,  to  acquiesce  in  any  false  doctrine  wliich  might  be 
introduced. 

George's  apprehensions  were  soon  realized.  The  bishop, 
being  once  established  in  power,  forgot  his  promises  ;  began 
to  promulgate  the  ancient  errors  ;  and  ere  long  openly  pro- 
fessed his  intention  of  restoring  all  things  to  their  former 
state  under  the  papacy.  In  consequence,  George  did  not 
scruple  to  preach  two  elaborate  sermons,  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  publishing  them,  against  the  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  in  defence  of  Protestant  doctrines  and 
principles.  Some  delay  occurred  in  committing  them  to  the 
press;  but  they  were  published  in  the  year  1551,  with  acopi- 
ous  preface.  They  are  both  from  the  gospel  for  the  eighth 
Sunday  after  Trinity,  taken  from  the  seventh  chapter 
■of  St.  Matthew ;  the  former  a  warning  against  false 
teachers,  from  ver.  15;  the  latter  a  comparison  of  popery 
and  Protestantism  as  to  their  practical  "fruits,"  from  ver. 
16.  He  here  contrasts  the  prohibition  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  neglect  of  the  education  of  youth,  and  of  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  (to  a  degree  that  even  tended  to  bring 
back  barbarism),  and  many  other  evils  among  the  papists, 
with  the  opposite  system  everywhere  introduced  by  the 
Protestants.  In  this  connexion  he  makes  a  splendid  eulo- 
gium  of  Luther's  translation  of  the  whole  Scriptures  "  from 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals,"  a  version  with  which 
neither  the  Septuagint,  nor  the  Vulgate,  nor  any  other 
ancient  one,  however  celebrated,  could  bear  a  comparison  ; 
and  by  means  of  which,  he  says,  the  inspired  writers  "  spoke 
to  the  people  of  Germany,  as  clearly  and  intelligibly  as  if 
they  had  been  born  and  brought  up  among  them." 

In  the  preface  to  some  sermons  on  the  sixteenth  Psalm, 
he  has  preserved  the  following  interesting  memorandum 
concerning  Luther.  The  reformer  had  visited  George  at 
Mersburg,  and  just  before  he  took  his  leave,  while  sitting 
in  his  chair,  he  solemnly  lifted  up  his  hands  and  eyes,  and 
said :  "  I  thank  my  God,  that  I  never  discovered  or  proposed 
any  new  doctrine  ;  but  held  fast  the  old  and  true  one  ;  and 
to  the  utmost  of  my  power  withstood  all  novelties,  contrary 
to  the  ancient  and  genuine  doctrine  and  faith  of  Christ, 
whether  introduced  by  Jews,  Turks,  heretics,  papists,  sacra- 
mentarians,  or  anabaptists."  "  These  words, "  says  George, 
"  I  heard  with  great  pleasure,  and  was  confirmed  by  them  in 


164        BUGENHAGIUS  POMERANUS. 

my  opinion  of  Luther,  that  he  sought  no  innovation,  but 
closely  followed  the  Scriptures,  constantly  adhered  to  the 
true  faith,  and  censured  nothing  but  errors  in  doctrine  and 
corruptions  in  practice." 

In  the  close  of  another  work,  on  the  sacrament,  he  quotes 
a  letter  of  Eckius's,  dated  at  Ingolstadt,  in  1535,  in  which 
the  writer  confesses  that  he  "  could  not  find  that  any  pope 
had  abolished  the  administration  of  the  eucharist  in  both 
kinds,  prior  to  the  councils  of  Constance  and  Basil,"  in  the 
fifteenth  century:  "but,"  adds  Eckius,  "as  the  church 
increased,  and  it  became  impossible  that  due  reverence 
should  be  shown  to  the  sacrament  amid  such  numbers  of 
people,  Christians,  without  any  express  injunction,  in  honour 
of  the  sacrament  itself,  withdrew,  and  were  content  with 
one  kind  :  and  this  they  dovbtless  (hd  by  the  suggestion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  V — Such  an  avowal,  in  all  its  parts,  from  so 
hackneyed  a  champion  of  popish  errors,  cannot  fail  to  make 
a  due  impression  on  the  mind  of  every  reflecting  reader. 

The  excellent  man  whose  history,  on  account  of  its 
interesting  nature,  we  have  detailed  at  some  length,  died  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1553,  at  the  age  of  only  forty-six 
years.  He  was  of  a  weakly  constitution,  which  he  further 
impaired  by  incessant  labours  and  studies.  The  sentiment 
of  Seckendorf  seems  perfectly  just,  that  few  even  of  the 
most  leading  reformers  are  more  deserving  of  our  admira- 
tion than  he  was.  Previously  to  his  administration  of 
Mersburg,  he  had,  in  conjunction  with  his  brothers,  intro- 
duced a  quiet  and  peaceable,  but  very  effectual  reformation 
in  the  principality  of  Anhalt ;  and  he  continued  to  the  end 
of  his  days  to  live  on  the  best  terms  with  the  same  beloved 
relatives,  rendering  them  every  assistance  in  the  well-govern- 
ing of  their  dominions.  Considering  his  rank  and  attain- 
ments, he  might  have  aspired  to  the  highest  dignities  in  the 
church  ;  but  he  was  content  with  what  he  had,  and  pre- 
ferred "  the  reproach  of  Christ"  to  any  worldly  advance- 
ment. He  lived  unmarried,  though  he  zealously  contended 
for  the  liberty  of  marriage  in  the  clergy.  His  end  appears 
to  have  been  eminently  devout  and  peaceful. 

The  other  eminent  individual  of  whom  we  have  here 
some  relation  to  offer  is  John  Bugenhagius  Pomeranus,  or 
Bugenhagen  of  Pomerania  ;  a  person  whose  name  has  ire- 


BUGENHAGIUS  POMERANUS.         165 

quently  occuiTed  in  these  pages,  and  who  had  rendered 
many  important  services  to  the  reformation.  In  the  same 
year  that  George  of  Anhalt  was  made  administrator  of 
Mersburg,  the  bishopric  of  Camin,  in  his  native  country, 
was  offered  to  Bugenhagen,  and  earnestly  pressed  upon  his 
acceptance  ;  and  it  appears  that  it  was  the  third  that  had 
been  thus  proposed  to  him.  But  never  did  an  ambitious 
churchman  more  earnestly  seek  such  a  dignity,  than  he 
declined  it ;  nor  any  disappointed  aspirant  more  bitterly 
bewail  his  failure,  than  this  good  man  did  his  having  for  a 
time  consented  to  his  own  advancement.  The  deceased 
bishop  was  the  very  prelate  who  had  driven  Bugenhagen 
from  his  country,  for  preaching  the  reformed  doctrine.* 
The  nomination  to  the  vacant  see  was  vested  in  the  reign- 
ing Dukes^  Barnimus  and  Philip,  both  Protestants  ;  but 
they  differed  with  some  asperity  concerning  the  person  who 
should  be  appointed.  At  length  they  were  prevailed  with 
to  agree  upon  Bugenhagen ;  and  they  sent  a  splendid 
embassy  to  Wittemberg  to  solicit  him  to  accept  the  office, 
representing  that  in  so  doing  he  would  meet  the  earnest 
wishes  of  the  chapter  and  the  whole  province.  The  depu- 
ties added,  that,  in  fact,  his  doing  so  was  the  only  probable 
means  of  preventing  the  differences  between  the  two  dukes 
being  decided  by  arms.  This  last  consideration,  seconded  by 
the  advice  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  prevailed  with  Bugen- 
hagen to  yield  a  conditional  assent :  but  he  had  no  sooner 
done  this,  than  he  fell  into  a  degree  of  melancholy,  consider- 
ing his  conduct  as  both  infatuated  and  sinful,  and  as  per- 
mitted for  the  punishment  of  his  other  offences.  He  there- 
fore mournfully  entreated  of  God  both  pardon  and  deliver- 
ance ;  and,  when  the  conditions  which  he  had  stipulated 
were  not  agreed  to  by  the  dukes,  he  gladly  availed  himself 
of  the  opportunity  of  retracting  his  consent.  He  offered, 
however,  if  a  bishop  were  first  appointed,  and  the  case 
required,  to  go  and  reorganize  the  reformation  of  Pomerania, 
which  had  been  at  first  established  in  a  considerable  degree, 
under  his  direction.  Bugenhagen  lived  nearly  fourteen 
years  after  this  time,  and  died  in  peace,  April  20,  1558. 

We  turn  now  to  the  general  course  of  events  at  this 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  177. 


166  DESIGNS    or    THE    EMPEROR. 

momentous  period.  The  time  was  now  arrived  when  the 
emperor  might  begin  to  throw  off  the  mask,  and  no  longer 
temporize  with  the  Protestants.  The  restraint  in  which  he 
had  long  been  held  with  respect  to  them,  and  the  bold  and 
firm  attitude  which  they  had  of  late  been  enabled  to  assume, 
must  have  been  highly  irritating  to  him ;  but  the  circum- 
stances of  his  other  dominions,  and  his  wars  with  the  King 
of  France  and  with  the  Turks,  imposed  on  him  a  necessity 
to  which  he  was  compelled  to  submit.  But  peace  was  now 
concluded  with  the  former  potentate,  and  Charles  enter- 
tained the  hope,  which  was  soon  after  realized,  of  making 
a  satisfactory  arrangement  with  the  sultan.  He  turned  all 
his  thoughts  therefore  to  Germany  ;  a,nd  with  a  view  to  the 
designs  he  cherished  there,  he  had,  "  by  a  private  article,  not 
inserted  in  the  treaty  of  Crespy,  that  it  might  not  raise  any 
unseasonable  alarm,  agreed  with  Francis,  that  both  should 
exert  all  their  influence  and  power  in  order  to  procure  a 
general  council,  to  assert  its  authority,  and  to  exterminate  the 
Protestant  heresy  out  of  their  dominions."*  Still,  however, 
he  had  reason  to  proceed  with  caution.  "He  was  sensible 
that  the  Protestants,  conscious  of  their  own  strength,  but 
under  continual  apprehensions  of  his  designs,  had  all  the 
boldness  of  a  powerful  confederacy  joined  to  the  jealousy 
of  a  feeble  faction ;  and  were  no  less  quick-sighted  to 
discern  the  first  appearance  of  danger,  than  ready  to  take 
arms  in  order  to  repel  it."*  Hence  we  shall  find  him  still 
continuing,  as  long  as  he  could  do  it,  to  veil  his  designs 
against  them  with  the  utmost  artifice  and  duplicity. 

The  pope,  immediately  after  the  peace  of  Crespy,  sum- 
moned a  general  council  to  assemble  at  Trent  early  in  the 
spring  of  1545,  and  exhorted  all  Christian  princes  "  to 
embrace  the  opportunity  that  the  present  happy  interval  of 
tranquillity  afforded  them  of  suppressing  those  heresies 
wihch  threatened  to  subvert  whatever  was  sacred  or  venera- 
ble among  Christians."  Charles  affected  some  dissatisfac- 
tion at  this  :  but  after  such  a  slight  expression  of  dislike 
as  was  necessary  in  order  to  cover  his  designs,  he  deter- 
mined to  sanction  the  council,  which  might  become  no 
inconsiderable  instrument  towards  accomplishing  his  pro- 
jects ;  and   therefore  not   only  appointed  ambassadors   to 

*  ilobertsoiL 


DIET    OF    WORMS.  167 

appear  there  in  his  name,  but  ordered  the  ecclesiastics  m 
his  dominions  to  attend  at  the  time  prescribed. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  imperial  diet,  after  several  proroga- 
tions, was  opened  at  Worms  on  the  25th  of  March,  1545. 
The  Protestants,  who  enjoyed  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion  by  a  very  precarious  tenure,  wished  earnestly  to 
establish  that  important  privilege  upon  some  firmer  basis, 
and  to  hold  it  by  a  perpetual,  not  by  a  temporai-y  title.  But, 
instead  of  oflering  them  any  additional  security,  Ferdinand 
opene<.l  the  diet  with  observing,  that  there  were  two  points, 
chiefly,  which  required  consideration,  the  prosecution  of  the 
war  against  the  Turks,  and  the  state  of  religion ;  that  the 
controversies  about  the  latter  were  so  intricate,  and  of  such 
difficult  discussion,  as  to  give  no  hope  of  its  being  possible 
to  bring  them  at  present  to  any  final  issue  ;  that  a  council 
so  long  wished  for,  was  at  length  appointed  ;  that  the  time 
of  its  meeting  was  at  hand,  and  both  parties  ought  to  wait 
for  its  decrees,  and  submit  to  them  as  the  decisions  of  the 
universal  church.  The  popish  members  of  the  diet  received 
this  declaration  with  great  applause.  The  Protestants 
expressed  surprise  at  propositions,  which  were  so  mani- 
festly repugnant  to  the  recess  of  the  former  diet,  and  insisted 
that  the  questions  with  regard  to  religion,  as  first  in  dignity, 
and  most  nearly  concerning  them  all,  ought  to  come  first 
under  deliberation. 

Ferdinand,  by  the  emperor's  command,  adhered  inflexibly 
to  his  first  propositions,  and  would  make  no  concessions 
which  had  the  most  remote  tendency  to  throw  discredit  on 
the  council,  or  to  weaken  its  authority.  The  Protestants, 
on  their  part,  were  no  less  inflexible  ;  and  after  much  time 
spent  in  fruitless  endeavours  to  convince  each  other,  the 
parties  came  to  no  agreement.  Nor  did  the  presence  of  the 
emperor,  who  arrived  at  Worms  on  the  15th  of  May,  con- 
tribute in  any  degree  to  render  the  Protestants  more  com- 
pliant. Fully  convinced  that  they  were  maintaining  the 
cause  of  God  and  of  truth,  they  showed  themselves  superior 
to  the  allurements  of  interest  or  the  suggestions  of  fear ; 
and,  in  proportion  as  the  emperor  redoubled  his  solicitations, 
or  discovered  his  designs,  their  boldness  seems  to  have 
increased.  At  last  they  openly  declared,  that  they  would 
not  even  deign  to  vindicate  their  tenets  in  the  presence  of  a 
council,  assembled  not  to  examine,  but  to  condemn  them  ; 


168  DIET    OF    WORMS. 

and  that  they  would  pay  no  regard  to  an  assembly  held 
under  the  influence  of  a  pope,  v/ho  had  already  precluded 
himself  from  all  title  to  act  as  a  judge,  by  having  stigmatized 
their  opinions  with  the  name  of  heresy,  and  denounced 
against  them  the  heaviest  censures  which  in  the  pleni- 
tude of  his  usurped  power  he  could  inflict.  Maurice  of 
Saxony  alone  showed  an  inclination  to  gratify  the  emperor. 
Though  he  professed  an  inviolable  regard  to  the  Protestant 
religion,  he  assumed  an  appearance  of  moderation  peculiar 
to  himself,  by  which  he  confirmed  the  favourable  sentiments 
which  the  emperor  already  entertained  of  him,  and  gradu- 
ally paved  the  way  for  executing  the  ambitious  designs 
which  always  occupied  his  active  and  enterprising  mind. 
Charles's  schemes  were  not  yet  ripe  for  execution  ;  and  as  he 
perceived  that  he  could  not  hope  either  to  procure  present 
aid  from  the  Protestants  against  the  Turks,  or  to  quiet  their 
fears  and  jealousies  on  account  of  their  religion,  he  appointed 
a  diet  to  be  held  at  Ratisbon  early  in  the  next  year,  in  order 
to  adjust  what  was  now  left  undetermined  ;  and  previous 
to  it,  he  agreed  that  a  certain  number  of  divines  of  each 
party  should  meet,  in  order  to  confer  upon  the  points  in 
dispute.  His  conduct,  however,  in  various  other  particulars 
(among  which  may  be  mentioned  his  taking,  precisely  at  this 
period,  the  canons  of  Cologne  under  his  protection  in  their 
opposition  to  their  archbishop),  prevented  this  appearance 
of  a  desire  to  maintain  the  present  tranquillity  from  imposing 
upon  the  Protestants  ;  and  they  began  to  entertain  the  most 
jealous  solicitude  for  their  ov/n  safety. 

The  recess  of  Spires  had  directed  each  of  the  twa 
great  religious  parties  to  prepare  a  formulary  of  reformation, 
extending  both  to  doctrines,  ceremonies,  and  discipline  ;  and 
of  which  concession  towards  their  opponents,  carried  to  the 
utmost  limits  that  conscience  would  allow,  was  to  be  the 
leading  principle  ;  in  order  that,  from  the  comparison  of 
the  two  to  be  made  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  it  might  be  ascer- 
tained what  hope  existed  of  bringing  the  contending  parties 
together,  or  of  establishing  some  pacific  compromise  between 
them.  Though  this  was  in  itself  a  sufficiently  unpromising 
project,  and,  after  the  condemnation  which  the  pope  had 
pronounced  of  the  whole  proceeding,  the  CathoHcs  could 
never  be  expected  to  perform  their  part  of  the  prescribed 
task ;  yet  the  elector  thought  it  not  right  that  the  Protest- 


COUNCIL  OF    TRENT.  16? 

ants  should  be  wanting  to  their  duty,  or  that  they  should 
lose  this  fresh  opportunity  of  explaining  their  views,  and 
showing  the  moderation  of  their  aims.  Accordingly  he 
called  upon  the  divines  of  Wittemberg  to  prepare  and  sub- 
mit to  him  such  a  document  as  was  required.  They  lost  no 
time  in  complying  with  the  demand,  and  transmitted  their 
plan  in  the  month  of  January,  1545,  signed  by  Luther, 
Bugenhagen,  Cruciger,  G.  Major,  and  Melancthon.  It 
is  not  necessary  here  to  enlarge  on  its  contents.  Great 
piety,  wisdom,  and  moderation  seem  to  reign  throughout 
the  composition ;  but  the  event  showed  that  there  was  no 
sincerity  in  the  proposals  that  had  been  made  for  a  candid 
discussion  of  differences,  and  this  project  of  reformation, 
which  had  been  prepared  with  the  greatest  care,  was  never 
called  for  by  the  diet. 

In  their  correspondence  with  the  elector  on  this  occa- 
sion, the  Wittemberg  divines  complain,  that  their  adver- 
saries became  more  and  more  furious  ;  that  this  very  year 
great  numbers  of  persons,  and  among  them  some  very  wise 
and  learned  men,  had  been  burned  for  their  religion  ;  and 
that  Ferdinand,  notwithstanding  his  fair  professions  in  Ger- 
many, had  issued  such  edicts  concerning  religion  as  caused 
great  distress  to  his  Hungarian  subjects. 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  year  1 545,  the  general  council 
was  opened  with  the  accustomed  solemnities  at  Trent.  But 
neither  the  character  of  the  assembly  itself,  nor  the  late 
period  to  which  it  was  deferred,  left  any  just  hope  of  its  produ- 
cing those  healing  effects  on  the  state  of  the  church  which 
many  had  anticipated  from  it.  "  The  first  session,"  says 
Dr.  Robertson,  "  was  spent  in  matters  of  form.  In  a  sub- 
sequent one  it  was  agreed  that  the  framing  of  a  confession 
of  faith,  wlierein  should  be  contained  all  the  articles  which 
the  church  required  its  members  to  believe,  ought  to  be  the 
first  and  principal  business  of  the  council ;  but  that,  at  the 
same  time,  due  attention  should  be  given  to  what  was 
necessary  towards  the  reformation  of  manners  and  disci- 
pline. From  this  first  symptom  of  the  spirit  with  which  the 
council  was  animated,  from  the  high  tone  of  authority  which 
the  legates  who  presided  in  it  assumed,  and  from  the 
implicit  deference  with  which  most  of  the  members  followed 
their  directions,  the  Protestants  conjectured  with  ease  what 

Vol.  II.— P 


170  ALARM   OF    THE    PROTESTANTS. 

decisions  they  might  expect.  It  astonished  them,  however, 
to  see  forty  prelates  (for  no  greater  number  were  yet 
assembled)  assume  authority  as  representatives  of  the  uni- 
versal church,  and  proceed  to  determine  the  most  important 
points  of  doctrine  in  its  name."  As  soon  as  the  confeder- 
ates of  Sinalkald  received  information  of  the  opening  of  the 
council,  they  published  a  long  manifesto,  containing  a 
renewal  of  their  protest  against  its  meeting,  together  with 
the  reasons  whch  induced  them  to  decline  its  jurisdiction. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Protestant  princes  continued  to  re- 
ceive intelligence  from  different  quarters,  all  suited  still 
more  to  alarm  their  fears.  The  King  of  England  informed 
them  that  the  emperor,  having  long  resolved  to  exterminate 
their  opinions,  would  not  fail  to  employ  this  interval  of  tran- 
quillity, which  he  now  enjoyed,  as  the  most  favourable  junc- 
ture for  carrying  his  design  into  execution.  The  merchants  of 
Augsburg,  as  intimated  on  a  former  occasion,  received  advice, 
by  means  of  their  correspondents  in  Italy,  among  whom 
were  some  who  secretly  favoured  the  Protestant  cause,  that 
a  dangerous  confederacy  against  it  was  forming  between  the 
pope  and  the  emperor.  In  confirmation  of  this,  they  heard 
from  the  Low  Countries  that  Charles  had  issued  orders, 
though  with  every  precaution  which  could  keep  the  measure 
concealed,  for  raising  troops  both  there  and  in  other  parts  of 
his  dominions.  The  deputies  of  the  confederates  in  con- 
sequence assembled  at  Frankfort,  and  by  communicating 
their  intelligence  and  sentiments  to  each  other,  reciprocally 
heightened  their  sense  of  impending  danger.  But  neither 
the  union,  the  promptitude,  or  the  wisdom  of  their  coun- 
sels, was  such  as  their  situation  required,  or  as  the  prepara- 
tions of  their  enemies  rendered  necessary. 

Of  this  subject,  however,  and  of  the  Protestant  leaders 
generally,  our  justly  admired  historian  of  Charles  V.  here 
makes  a  representation  which  needs,  I  think,  to  be  consid- 
erably qualified,  and  on  which  I  shall  submit  to  the  reader 
a  few  remarks.  Occasions  of  jealousy  and  discord  had  no 
doubt  arisen,  and  the  union  of  the  parties  was  by  no  means 
so  entire  as  might  have  been  wished  :  but  Dr.  Robertson's 
statement  is  suited  to  make  a  much  stronger  impression 
upon  this  subject  than  the  authors  to  whom  he  refers  us^ 
produce.  Particularly  he  seems  to  convey  too  unfavour- 
able an  idea  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  as  compared  with  the 


PROTESTANT  LEADERS.  171 

landgrave;  and  too  nearly  to  concur  in  the  opinion  which  he 
represents  the  latter  as  entertaining  of  the  lormer,  namely, 
that,  however  "  upright"  a  man  he  might  be,  he  was  "  fet- 
tered by  narrow  prejudices,  unworthy  of  a  prince  called  to 
act  a  chief  part  in  a  scene  of  such  importance."     No  doubt, 
as  a  general,  a  politician,  a  man  of   the  world,  the   land- 
grave might  be  much  the  elector's  superior  :  but  in  all  other 
respects  there  could  be  no  comparison  between  the  two  char- 
acters.    For  deliberate   wisdom,  or  sound  judgment,  and 
above  all  for  piety  and  virtue  ;  for  the  qualities  which  fitted 
him  to  be   the  head  of  a  religious  association,  previously  to 
a  state  of  actual  warfare,  and   to  do   honour  to   the   body 
whose  counsels  he  regulated  ;  the   elector  must  decidedly 
bear  away  the  palm.     It  is  true,   his  attachment  to  every 
tenet   and  portion  of  Lutheranism  might  be  carried  to  ex- 
cess— might  be  what  many,  with  Dr.  Robertson,  would  call  it, 
"bigoted  and  superstitious  ;"  but  it  was  not  a  blind   attach- 
ment :  he  had  closely  studied  what  he  thus  firmly  embraced  ; 
and   his   adherence  to   it  was   the  result    of  conscientious 
conviction  ;  and  likewise  of  a  just  apprehension  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  knowing  where  to   stop,  if  once  we  begin  to  give 
way  in  such  questions,  and  in  such  times,  as  those  in  which 
he   was  conversant.     And,  if  he  did  think  "  that  the   con- 
cerns of  religion  are  to  be  regulated  by  principles  and  max- 
ims— different  from  those"  by  which  "  the  common  affairs  of 
life"    are,  in  point  of  fact,  at  least,  usually  managed,  is  he 
much  to  be  blamed  for  this  opinion  1     Luther  was  not  on 
all  occasions  thought,  either  by  his  friends  or  his  enemies, 
to   be   so   much   a  "  stranger  to  the  rules   of  political   con- 
duct,"   as   Dr.   R.   supposes  :    the  latter  sometimes  bring 
charges  of  an   opposite  nature  against  him.     That  either 
the  elector  or  Luther  should  have  refused  to  unite  with  the 
reformed  Swiss,  on  account  of  their  difference  from  them  on 
the  subject  of  the  eucharist  (there  was  no  other  material  arti- 
cle, much  less  "several  essential  articles  of  faith,"  on  which 
they  differed),  must    be  again    lamented,  as  an    humbling 
instance  of  the  weakness  and  obliquity  of  human  nature  ; 
but   that  they  should  have  "  refused  to  enter  into  any  con- 
federacy" for  the  defence  of  the  Protestant  religion  m  Ger- 
many with  the  King  of  France,  who  was  permitting,  at  least, 
the   most  bloody  persecution  of  that  religion  in  his  own 
tiominioiis,  and  had  actually  conspired  with  the  emperor  for 


172  ARTIFICE  OF  THE  EMPEROR. 

its  general  suppression  ;  or  that  they  should  have  been  un- 
willing "to  solicit  the  friendship"  of  the  King  of  England, 
who,  as  the  elector  observed,  "  sought  nothing  but  his  own 
interest  and  aggrandizement,  had  done  nothing  in  the  way 
of  reformation  except  making  himself  head  of  the  church 
in  the  pope's  stead,*  and  at  the  same  time  persecuted  pious 
Christians,  and  himself  lived  a  flagitious  life  :" — neither  of 
these  circumstances,  I  think,  can  be  censured  or  regretted 
by  any  one  who  considers  the  exclusive  object  of  the  Ger- 
man league,  or  feels  properly  for  the  honour  of  the  sacred 
cause  which  it  was  designed  to  support.  In  these  several 
particulars  we  must  dissent  from,  or  at  least  materially 
qualify,  the  sentiments  which  Ur.  Robertson  appears  to 
convey. 

The  dishonourable  length  to  which  the  emperor  carried 
his  artifices  to  delude  the  Protestants  at  this  period,  may  be 
judged  of,  from  the  following  instances.     Not  only  did  he 
allow  Granvelle,  his  chief  minister,  to  assure  the  landgrave, 
in  return  to  some  pressing  questions  which  he  had  proposed, 
"  that  the  intelligence  they  had  received  of  the  emperor's 
military  preparations  was  exaggerated,  and  all  their  suspi- 
cions destitute   of  foundation  ;  that,   though,   in   order  to 
guard  his  frontiers  against  any  insult  of  the  French  or  Eng- 
lish, he  had  commanded  a  small  body  of  men  to  be  raised 
in  the  Low-Countries,  he  was  as  solicitous  as  ever  to  main- 
tain tranquillity  in  Germany:"!  not  content  with  this,  he 
**  contrived  to  have  a  personal  interview  with  the  landgrave ; 
and  to  him  he  made,  such  warm  professions  of  his  concern 
for  the  happiness  of  Germany,  and  of  his  aversion  to  all 
violent   measures  ;  he   denied,  in  such  express  terms,  his 
having  entered  into  any  league,  or  having  begun  any  mili- 
tary preparations  which  should   give   any  just   cause   of 
alarm   to   the   Protestants,   as  seem  to    have  dispelled  all 
the  landgrave's  doubts    and  apprehensions,  and  sent  him 
away  fully  satisfied  of  his  pacific  intentions.     This  artifice 
was  of  great  advantage,  and  effectually  answered  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  employed  :"t  it  induced  the  Protest- 
However  innocent  the  sense  in  which  the  king's  majesty  is  now  held 
to  be  "  the  head  of  the  church"  (see  Church  Art.  xxxvii),  it  appears 
elear,  that  Henry  VIII.  meant  fully  to  succeed  to  the  pope's  place  aiid  pre- 
rogative within  hLs  own  doaunioiis. 
t  Robertson. 


COUNCIL  OF   TRENT.  17^ 

ants  to  conclude  it  unnecessary  to  take  any  immediate 
measures  against  danger,  which  appeared  to  be  distant  or 
imaginary. 

"  Such  events,  however,  soon  occurred,  as  staggered  the 
credit  which  the   Protestants   had  given   to  the   emperor's 
declarations.     The  council  of  Trent,  though  still  composed 
of  a  small  number  of  Italian  and  Spanish  prelates,  without 
a    single    deputy    from    many  of   the    kingdoms  which    it 
assumed  a  right  of  binding  by  its  decrees,  proceeded  to  set- 
tle articles  of  the  greatest  importance.     Having  begun  with 
examining  the  first  and  chief  point  in  controversy  between 
the  church  of  Rome  and  the  reformers,  concerning  the  rule 
which  should  be  held  as  supreme  and  decisive  in  matters  of 
faith,  the  council,  by  its  infallible  authority,  determined  that 
the  books  to  which  the   designation  of  apocnjphal  has  been 
given,  are  of  equal  authority  with  those  which  were  received 
by  the  Jews  and  primitive  Christians  into  the  sacred  canon  ; 
that  the  traditions  handed  down  from  the  apostolic  age,  and 
preserved  in  the  church,  are  entitled  to  as  much  regard  as 
the  doctrines  and  precepts  which  the  inspired  authors  have 
committed   to   writing  ;  that   the   Latin   translation    of  the 
Scriptures,  made  or   revised   by  St.  Jerome,  and  known  by 
the    name    of  the  Vulgate   translation,    should   be    read  in 
churches,  and  appealed  to  in  the  schools  as  authentic  and  ca- 
nonical.    Against  all  who  disclaimed  the  truth  of  these  tenets 
anathemas  were  denounced  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the   Holy  Ghost.     The  decision   of  these   points,  which 
undermined  the  main   foundation  of  the  Lutheran  system, 
was  a  plain  warning  to  the  Protestants  what  judgment  they 
might  expect,  when  the  council  should  have  leisure  to  take 
into  consideration  the  particular  and   subordinate   articles  of 
their  creed.     This  discovery  of  the   council's    readiness   to 
condemn  the  opinions  of  the  Protestants  was  soon  followed 
by  a  striking   instance  of   the  pope's  resolution  to  punish 
such  as  embraced  them" — in  the  deprivation  and  excommu- 
nication of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne.     "  The  countenance 
which  he  had  given  to  the  Lutheran  heresy  was  the   only 
crime   imputed  to   that  prelate,  as  well  as  the  only  reason 
assigned  to  justify  the  extraordinary  severity  of  this  decree. 
The  Protestants  could  hardly  believe  that  Paul,  how  zealous 
soever  he  might  be  to  defend  the  established  system,  or  to 
humble  those  who  invaded  it,  would  have  ventured  to  pro- 
P2 


174  DIET  OF  RATISBON. 

ceed  to  such  extremities  against  a  prince  and  elector  of  the 
empire,  without  having  previously  secured  such  powerful 
protection,  as  would  render  his  censure  something  more 
than  an  impotent  and  despicable  sally  of  resentment.  They 
were  of  course  deeply  alarmed  at  this  sentence  against  the 
archbishop  ;  and  their  fears  revived  with  such  violence  as  is 
natural  to  men  roused  from  a  false  security,  and  conscious 
of  having  been  deceived." 

And  here  we  must  advert  to  an  event  deeply  interesting 
to  every  Protestant  of  the  present  as  well  as  of  that  remote 
period  ;  into  the  particulars  of  which,  as  thus  interesting  to 
all,  we  shall  presently  enter  with  considerable  minuteness. 
I  refer  to  the  death  of  Luther.  In  the  words  of  Dr. 
Robertson  :  "  While  appearances  of  danger  daily  increased, 
and  the  tempest  which  had  been  so  long  gathering  was  ready 
to  break  forth  in  all  its  violence  against  the  Protestant 
church,  Luther  was  saved  by  a  seasonable  death,  from  feeling 
or  beholding  its  destructive  rage.  Having  gone,  though  in 
a  declining  state  of  health,  and  during  a  rigorous  season,  to 
his  native  city  of  Eisleben,  in  order  to  compose,  by  his  au- 
thority, a  dissension  among  the  Counts  of  Mansfeldt,  he 
was  seized  with  a  violent  inflammation  in  his  stomach,  which 
in  a  few  days  put  an  end  to  his  life,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of 
his  age." 

Such  was  the  situation  of  affairs,  when  the  diet  of  Ratis- 
bon  assembled  on  the  5th  of  June,  1546.  In  pursuance  of 
the  recess  of  the  late  diet  of  Worms,  a  conference  had  taken 
place  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  between  certain  divines 
of  each  party.  Its  proceedings,  hovrever,  were  soon  termi- 
nated, and  there  is  no  need  to  enter  at  all  minutely  into 
them.  We  have  already  had  more  than  enough  of  these 
vain  attempts  to  make  fire  and  water  coalesce.  "  The  em- 
peror," Dr.  Robertson  observes,  "  instead  of  appointing 
men  of  moderation  and  pacific  temper  to  appear  in  defence 
of  the  Catholic  doctrines,  made  choice  of  fierce  bigots, 
attached  to  their  own  system  with  a  blind  obstinacy  tliat 
rendered  all  hope  of  a  reconcilement  desperate."  On  the  part 
of  the  Protestants,  the  divines  first  nominated  were  Melanc- 
thon,  Bucer,  Schnepfius,  and  Brentius ;  but  Mclancthon 
was  excused,  and  George  Major  substituted  for  him  at  the 
instance  of  Luther,  who  urged  that  "  there  was  not  a  man 
there  worthy  to  dispute  with  MeianCthon :  that  Melancthon 


DIET  OF  RATISBON.  175 

also  was  not  in  good  health,  and  ought  not  to  be  needlessly 
exposed  :  and  that  the  younger  men  ought  to  be  brought  for- 
ward, that  they  might  be  prepared  to  take  the  place  of  those 
who  were  going  off  the  stage."  Major  devolved  the  lead- 
ing part  on  Bucer,  as  the  senior,  and  he  appears  to  have 
acquitted  himself  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner.  But  Mal- 
venda,  "  a  Spanish  divine,  who  took  upon  him  the  conduct 
of  the  debate  on  the  part  of  the  Catholics,  managed  it  with 
all  the  subtle  dexterity  of  a  scholastic  metaphysician,  more 
studious  to  perplex  his  adversaries  than  to  convince  them, 
and  more  intent  on  palliating  error  than  on  discovering  the 
truth.  The  Protestants,  filled  with  indignation,  as  well  at 
his  sophistry  as  at  some  regulations  which  the  emperor  en- 
deavoured to  impose  on  the  disputants,  broke  off  the  confer- 
ence abruptly,  being  now  fully  convinced,  that  in  all  his  late 
measures,  the  emperor  could  have  no  other  view  than  to 
amuse  them,  and  to  gain  time  for  ripening  his  own  schemes."* 
Cochlaeus  (who  had  been  one  of  the  presidents),  in  a  book 
which  he  pubUshed,  pronounced  the  princes,  divines,  and 
all  concerned  on  the  Protestant  side,  to  be  "  apostates, 
rebels,  and  heretics,  and  that  they  ought  to  be  proceeded 
against  accordingly:"  and  Pallavicini  says,  "Torches 
were  wanting  here,  not  to  illuminate  the  Protestants,  but  to 
burn  them,  for  they  erred  not  from  darkness  of  understand- 
ing, but  from  depravity  of  heart."  Father  Paul's  remark, 
however,  is,  that  *'  the  conference  was  dissolved  by  the  arts 
of  the  Catholics,  and  the  deceitful  pretences  of  the  em- 
peror." 

The  diet  of  Ratisbon  was  attended  by  few  of  the  Prot- 
estant members.  From  distrust  of  the  emperor  they  chose 
rather  to  send  deputies.  The  emperor  by  an  artful  opening 
address  dexterously  avoided  discovering  his  own  sentiments, 
appeared  to  refer  every  thing  to  the  judgment  of  the  diet, 
and  reserved  to  himself,  as  his  only  part,  that  of  carrying 
into  execution  what  they  should  recommend.  Yet  he 
was  no  less  secure  by  this  means  of  such  a  decision 
as  he  wished  to  obtain.  "  The  Roman  Catholic  members, 
prompted  by  their  own  zeal,  or  prepared  by  his  intrigues, 
joined  immediately  in  representing  that  the  authority  of  the 
council  now  met  at  Trent  ought  to  be  supreme  in  all  matters 

*  Robertson. 


176  DIET  OF  RATISBON. 

ef  controversy  ;  that  all  Christians  should  submit  to  its  de- 
crees as  the  infallible  rule  of  their  faith  ;  and  therefore  they 
besought  him  to  exert  the  power  with  which  he  was  invested 
by  the  Almighty  in  protecting  that  assembly,  and  in  com- 
pelling the  Protestants  to  acquiesce  in  its  determinations. 
The  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  presented  a  memorial, 
in  which,  after  repeating  their  objections  to  the  council  of 
Trent,  they  proposed,  as  the  only  effectual  method  of  de- 
ciding the  points  in  dispute,  that  either  a  free  general  coun- 
cil should  be  assembled  in  Germany,  or  that  a  select  number 
of  divines  should  be  appointed  out  of  each  party  to  examine 
and  define  articles  of  faith.  They  mentioned  the  recesses 
of  several  diets  favourable  to  this  proposition,  and  which 
had  afforded  them  the  prospect  of  terminating  all  their  differ- 
ences in  this  amicable  manner  ;  they  now  conjured  the  em- 
peror not  to  depart  from  his  former  plan,  and,  by  offering 
violence  to  their  consciences,  to  bring  calamities  upon  Ger- 
many, the  very  thought  of  which  must  fdl  every  lover  of  his 
country  with  horror.  The  emperor,  receiving  this  paper 
■with  a  contemptuous  smile,  paid  no  further  regard  to  it. 
Having  already  taken  his  final  resolution,  and  perceiving  that 
nothing  but  force  could  compel  them  to  acquiesce  in  it,  he 
despatched  the  Cardinal  of  Trent  to  Rome,  in  order  to  con- 
clude an  alliance  with  the  pope,  the  terms  of  which  were  already 
agreed  on  ;  he  commanded  a  body  of  troops,  levied  on  purpose 
in  the  Low  Countries,  to  advance  towards  Germany;  he  gave 
commissions  to  several  officers  for  rai-sing  men  indifferent  parts 
of  the  empire  ;  he  w  arned  John  and  Albert  of  Brandenburg, 
that  now  was  the  proper  time  of  exerting  themselves,  in  order 
to  rescue  their  ally,  Henry  of  Brunswick,  from  captivity. 
Alarmed  by  such  proceedings,  "  the  deputies  of  the  confede- 
rates ■  demanded  audience  of  the  emperor,  and,  in  the  name 
of  their  masters,  required  to  know  w^hether  these  mihtary 
preparations  were  carried  on  by  his  command,  and  for  what 
end,  and  against  what  enemy  1  To  a  question  put  in  such 
a  tone,  and  at  a  time  when  facts  were  become  too  notorious 
to  be  denied,  it  was  necessary  to  give  an  explicit  answer 
Charles  owned  the  order  he  had  issued,  and,  professing  his 
purpose  not  to  molest  on  account  of  religion  those  who 
should  act  as  dutiful  subjects,  declared  that  he  had  nothing 
in  view  but  to  maintain  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the 
imperial  dignity,  and,  by  punishing  some  factious  members, 


HOSTILE  INTENTIONS  OF  CHARLES.  177 

to  preserve  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  empire  from  be- 
ing impaired  or  dissolved  by  their  irregular  and  licentious 
conduct.  Though  the  emperor  did  not  name  the  persons 
whom  he  charged  with  such  high  crimes,  and  destined  to  be 
the  objects  of  his  vengeance,  it  was  obvious  that  he  had 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  in 
view.  Their  deputies  considering  what  he  had  said  as  a 
plain  declaration  of  his  hostile  intentions,  immediately  re- 
tired from  Ratisbon."  The  diet  soon  after  broke  up  (on  the 
24th  of  July),  and  both  parties  openly  prepared  for  war. 

On  the  emperor's  conduct  in  all  this  business  we  must  pro- 
nounce, that  the  meanness,  deceit,  and  tyranny  by  which  it 
was  characterized,  are  in  the  highest  degree  offensive  to 
every  sentiment  of  honour  and  justice.  Yet  all  is  vindica- 
ted, and  even  applauded,  both  by  Pallavicini  and  Maimbourg, 
because  it  was  to  serve  the  church !  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  agreeable  to  our  feelings,  than  to  have  seen 
Charles,  after  all  his  artifice  and  contrivance,  taken  unpre- 
pared, and  defeated  at  the  head  of  the  troops  which  he  had 
got  together,  and  the  forces  of  his  prompter,  the  pope,  cut 
off  before  they  could  reach  the  scene  of  action  ;  all  which 
had  wellnigh  taken  place,  and,  humanly  speaking,  might 
easily  have  been  effected.  Thus  the  liberty  of  Ger- 
many might  have  been  established,  and  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion placed  in  security.  This  would  have  exactly  met  our 
wishes  ;  but  to  that  higher  Wisdom  which  controls  all  oc- 
currence, and  watches  with  an  eye  of  special  regard  over 
the  affairs  of  the  church,  it  seemed  good  to  permit  a  widely 
different  course  of  events.  It  pleased  Him,  indeed,  ulti- 
mately to  estabUsh  the  cause  of  the  German  Protestants  in 
safety :  but,  according  to  the  anticipations'  which  we  have 
repeatedly  seen  the  leading  reformers  entertaining,  their 
church  was  to  be  previously  humbled  and  purified.  It 
was  His  good  pleasure  also  to  bring  down  the  pride,  and  to 
disappoint  the  ambition  of  Charles  V.,  as  effectually,  and  in 
as  mortifying  a  manner,  as  if  it  had  been  accomplished  by 
the  elector  and  the  landgrave  ;  but  it  was  to  be  by  the  hand 
of  a  man  of  far  less  principle  than  either  of  them,  whom 
the  emperor  himself  was,  with  the  most  unsuspecting  confi- 
dence, nourishing  up  to  execute  both  these  great  designs  of 
Providence.  Here  then  we  are  strikingly  taught  to  commit 
our  ways  to  God,  to  leave  all  with  him,  and  in  faith  and 


178  PALATINATE  OF  THE  RHINE. 

patience  to  wait  the  unfolding  of  his  dispensations,  who 
will  infallibly  bring  about  the  events  most  to  be  desired  in 
the  time  and  by  the  means  which  are  the  best  to  be  chosen. 
Such  were,  in  fact,  the  sentiments  with  which  the  pious 
Elector  of  Saxony  received  the  news  of  the  emperor's  vir- 
tual denunciation  of  him  as  a  rebel,  w^hom  he  would  forth- 
with proceed  to  punish  as  he  deserved.  In  directing  his 
deputies  quietly  to  withdraw  from  Ratisbon,  he  said,  "  he 
had  meritfcd  no  such  tr'.iimcrt  fiom  the  emperor's  hands  ; 
that,  whatever  might  be  pretended,  his  religion  was  the  real 
cause  of  it  ;  and  that  he  committed  the  event  to  God,  who 
would  undoubtedly  direct  the  whole  to  the  glory  of  his  own 
name.  By  his  grace,"  he  added,  "I  have  resolved  to  perse- 
vere even  to  the  end  in  the  confession  of  his  word  and  truth, 
though  it  should  be  at  the  risk  of  my  person,  my  life,  and  all 
that  I  possess."  He  rejoiced  to  hear  that  the  confederates 
were  not  dispirited  I  he  relied  on  the  Divine  aid  ;  and,  in 
conjunction  with  the  landgrave,  resolved  to  do  every  thing 
in  his  power  for  the  common  cause. 

Two  honourable  instances  of  states  which  joined  the 
Protestant  cause,  even  in  its  present  perilous  circumstances, 
demand  to  be  here  recorded.  One  of  these  was  the  Pala- 
tinate of  the  Rhine.  We  have  before  related  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  Upper  Palatinate,  or  that  of  Bavaria.  In  the 
year  1545,  the  Lower  Palatinate,  or  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine, 
which  is  of  much  superior  importance,  its  prince  •enjoying 
the  electoral  dignity,  followed  the  example.  Frederic  the  pre- 
sent elector  had  married  the  emperor's  niece,  the  daughter  of 
Christiern  King  of  Denmark.  He  was  a  great  favourite  with 
the  emperor,  and  had  been  repeatedly  employed  by  him  in  his 
transactions  with  the  Protestants  :  the  consequence  of  which 
was,  very  contrary  to  what  had  been  intended,  that  he  be- 
came strongly  impressed  in  favour  of  their  principles.  He 
succeeded  his  brother  Lewis  in  the  year  1544.  Like  many 
others,  he  had  indulged  in  the  hope  that  a  general  reforma- 
tion, or  at  least  a  legal  establishment  of  the  reformed  re- 
ligion, would  be  the  result  of  so  many  conferences  and  so 
much  discussion  ;  and  he  was  willing  to  wait  for  this  happy 
event.  Finding  all  these,  however,  issue  in  nothing,  he 
thought  himself  called,  at  length,  to  countenance  by  his  au- 
thority the  system  which  he  approved,  and  to  gratify  t^e 


LUTHER  S  APPROACHING  DISSOLUTION.         179 

wishes  of  his  subjects,  who,  by  their  intercourse  with  the 
Protestant  states,  had  universally  imbibed  their  opinions. 
In  all  this  he  was  materially  prompted  and  aided  by  his  re- 
lation and  destined  successor,  Otho  Henry,  of  whom  men- 
tion has  been  made  in  speaking  of  the  other  Palatinate. 

The  case  of  Leutkirk,  a  free  imperial  city  of  Suabia,  is 
still  more  honourable,  because  its  avowal  of  the  principles 
of  the  reformation  was  made  when  the  danger  had  still  fur- 
ther increased,  and  notwithstanding  formidable  opposition, 
both  from  persons  possessing  civil  authority  in  the  city,  and 
from  powerful  eclesiastical  establishments  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  thirst  after  evangelical  truth  appears  to  have 
been  first  excited  here  by  the  publication  of  the  Confession 
of  Augsburg,  in  the  year  1531  :  but  it  was  strenuously  re- 
sisted by  Faber,  a  native  of  the  place — the  same  who  was 
afterward  raised  to  the  see  of  Vienna  for  his  opposition  to 
Luther.  By  his  influence  a  faction  was  kept  up  in  the  city, 
which  effectually  withstood  the  public  reception  of  the  refor- 
mation till  the  year  1546,  when  the  opposition  was  over- 
borne ;  not,  it  must  be  confessed,  without  some  disorders 
taking  place.  Protestantism  was  then  introduced,  and,  not- 
withstanding many  conflicts  and  some  reverses,  it  has  been 
maintained  there  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Closing   Transactions  of  Luther^s  Life — His  Death — His 
Character — His  later  Writings. 

We  now  proceed  more  particularly  to  describe  the  closing 
scenes  of  Luther's  life. 

He  completed  his  sixty- second  year  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, 1545  ;  and  he  did  not  survive  that  period  so  much 
as  three  months.  For  some  years  previously  he  seems 
scarcely  to  have  written  a  letter  in  which  he  did  not  antici- 
pate his  approaching  dissolution  ;  and  often  his  expressions 
of  desire  for  his  dismissal,  and  for  the  heavenly  rest,  are 
very  ardent.  Indeed,  he  had,  in  his  many  and  increasing 
iniirmities,  sufficient  warning  that  the  time  of  his  departure 


180  CLOSING    EMPLOYMENTS 

was  at  hand.  He  was  troubleil  with  excruciating  pains  in 
the  head,  which  nearly  deprived  him  of  the  sight  of  one 
eye  ;  his  legs  swelled,  and  he  suffered  severely  from  the 
stone.  His  enemies,  however,  were  not  able  to  wait  with 
patience  for  an  event  wliich  could  not  now  be  far  distant ; 
and  a  pretended  account  of  his  death,  as  having  been  ac- 
companied with  "  a  miracle,  wrought  by  God  for  the  honour 
of  Christ,  the  terror  of  the  wicked,  and  the  comfort  of  good 
men,"  was  in  the  year  1545  printed  and  circulated  in  Italy. 
The  story  is  so  absurd  that  it  hardly  deserves  to  be  repeated, 
except  to  show  what  some  men  were  wicked  enough  to 
invent,  and  others  weak  enough  to  receive  at  that  time. 
It  set  forth  that  Luther,  finding  death  approaching,  had 
called  for  the  sacrament,  and  immediately  after  receiving  it 
had  expired  ;  that  before  his  death  he  had  desired  that  his 
corpse  might  be  placed  upon  the  altar,  and  there  receive 
Divine  honours — which  desire,  however,  had  not  been  com- 
plied with ;  that  when  his  body  was  interred  a  tremendous 
storm  arose,  which  threatened  destruction  to  every  thing 
around,  and  that  the  affrighted  sp(;ctators  looking  up  saw 
the  host,  which  the  impious  man  had  presumed  to  receive, 
hovering  in  the  air ;  that  this  having  been  taken  with  great 
reverence  and  deposited  in  a  sacred  place,  the  tempest 
ceased,  but  at  night  returned  with  still  greater  fury  ;  that 
in  the  morning,  the  grave  being  opened,  no  vestige  of  the 
body  could  be  found,  but  a  horrible  stench  of  brimstone 
proceeded  from  the  place,  by  which  the  health  of  the  by- 
standers was  seriously  affected  ;  and  that  the  consequence 
of  all  this  had  been,  the  return  of  many  persons  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  paper  containing  this 
account  was  brought  to  Luther,  and  he  caused  it  to  be  re- 
printed with  this  addition,  "  I,  Doctor  Martin  Luther,  testify 
under  my  hand,  that  I  have  received  this  extravagant  fic- 
tion this  21st  day  of  March,  and  read  it  with  great  pleas- 
ure— except  for  the  abominable  lies  against  the  Divine 
Majesty  which  it  contains.  It  gratifies  me  exceedingly  to 
find  myself  so  obnoxious  to  Satan,  and  to  his  agents,  the 
pope  and  papists.  May  God  convert  and  recover  them 
from  the  power  of  the  devil !  or,  if  my  prayers  for  them 
must  be  in  vain,  owing  to  their  having  committed  '  the  sin 
unto  death,'  then  may  God  grant  that  they  may  soon  fill 
up  their  measure,  aiid  that  ihey  may  find  their  joy  and 


OF    LUTHER.  18 1 

comfort  only  in  writing  such  tales  as  this  !  Let  us  leave 
them  alone  :  they  go  whither  they  have  chosen  to  go.  I 
shall  see  whether  they  can  be  saved  ;  and  how  they  will 
repent  them  of  the  lies  and  blasphemies  with  which  they 
fill  the  world." 

It  would  certainly  have  been  highly  gratifying  to  record^ 
that  in  the  closing  period  of  Luther's  life  the  ruggedness 
of  his  temper  had  been  softened  down,  and  that  his  latter 
days  were  passed  only  in  peace  and  love.  Fidelity,  how- 
ever requires  us  to  acknowledge,  that  painful  traces  of 
asperity  still  occasionally  appear,  and  those  inflamed,  and 
at  the  same  time  partially,  though  only  partially,  excused 
by  the  irritability  produced  by  age  and  growing  infirmities. 
The  sacramental  controversy  still  vexed  him,  and  he  was 
not  a  little  displeased  at  Melancthon,  for  being  less  severe 
than  himself  in  his  judgment  of  the  Zwinglians.  The 
elector,  however,  successfully  interfered  to  compose  this 
difference.  But  several  other  things  in  the  state  of  Wit- 
temberg  much  disturbed  his  mind  ;  particularly  the  cor- 
ruption of  manners,  and  the  number  of  clandestine  mar- 
riages contracted  by  the  students,  which,  being  confirmed 
by  the  legal  authorities  (who  still  acted  upon  the  pontifical 
regulations  concerning  such  subjects),  threatened  to  be 
very  injurious  to  the  university  itself  Luther,  in  conse- 
quence, rather  suddenly  left  Wittemberg  and  went  to 
Lei[  .ig  ;  visited  George  of  Anhalt  at  Mersberg,  Amsdorf  at 
Naumburg,  and  other  friends  ;  and  was  not  at  all  inclined 
to  return  home — urging  that  this  was  "  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  and  he  wished  to  spend  it  at  a  di.^ance  from  scenes 
which  disquieted  him."  Much  allowance  is  certainly  due 
to  an  aged  man,  who  had  passed  such  a  life  of  labour  and 
conflict  as  Luther  had  done,  and  who  now,  in  the  midst 
of  many  personal  afflictions,  sought  repose.  His  indispo- 
sition to  return  was,  however,  overcome.  The  elector 
wrote  to  him  with  exquisite  tenderness  and  prudence;  the 
university  likewise  addressed  him,  and  he  yielded  to  their 
united  entreaties.  Indeed,  it  seems  clear  from  this,  and 
from  what  are  known  tc  have  been  the  closing  occupations 
of  his  life,  that  his  dejection  and  discontent  were  but  tran- 
sient— the  passing  shade  rather  than  the  settled  colour  of  his 
mind,  the  usual  tone  and  temper  of  which  he  ere  long 
recovered. 

Vol.  IL—  Q 


183  CLOSIN-G    EMPLOYMENTS 

All  the  circumstances  of  Luther's  visit  to  Eisleben,  and 
the  last  transactions  of  his  life,  appear  to  have  been  highly 
honourable  to  him.  The  country  of  Mansfeldt  is  a  mining 
district,  and  its  copper  and  silver  mines  had  of  late  years 
been  more  productive  than  formerly,  which  rather  sharpened 
than  satisfied  the  cupidity  of  its  sovereigns  and  their  cour- 
tiers. They  wished  to  appropriate  a  larger  share  of  the 
proceeds  to  themselves  than  before,  and  this  occasioned 
discord  between  them  and  the  people.  The  counts,  more- 
over, who  were  partly  Roman  Catholic  and  partly  Protest- 
ant, had  differences  between  themselves ;  and  both  these 
sources  of  variance  threatened  serious  consequences.  Lu- 
ther, who  thought  his  countr3?Tnen  oppressed,  had  been 
invited  over  by  one  of  the  counts  the  year  before,  to  use  his 
influence  and  afford  his  advice  for  the  settlement  of  the  dis- 
putes, and  he  had  obeyed  the  call,  though  without  succeeding 
in  his  object.  Now,  however,  the  invitation  was  renewed 
by  common  consent,  and  consequently  with  better  prospects 
of  success.  Luther,  therefore,  determined,  with  the  elector's 
permission,  again  to  undertake  the  service,  though  the 
state  of  his  health,  and  the  winter  season  might  well  have 
excused  him.  Six  days  before  he  set  out,  he  thus  spoke 
of  himself  in  a  letter  to  the  pastor  of  Bremen  :  "  I  am  old, 
decrepit,  sluggish,  weary,  spiritless,  and  blind  of  an  eye  ; 
yet,  at  a  time  ere  which  I  very  reasonably  hoped  to  have 
been  removed  to  my  rest  by  death,  as  if  I  had  never  man- 
aged, or  written,  or  spoken,  or  done  any  thing  before,  I  am 
quite  overwhelmed  with  writing,  and  speaking,  and  doing, 
and  managing  all  sorts  of  things." 

He  left  Wittemberg  on  the  23d  of  January,  accompanied 
by  his  three  sons.  The  weather  was  inclement,  and  he 
was  detained  three  days  at  Halle,  by  the  rising  of  the 
river,  which  he  was  obHged  to  cross  in  a  boat,  not  without 
some  danger.  During  his  stay  at  Halle  he  preached  for 
Justus  Jonas,  who  had  been  superintendent  there  since  the 
reformation  of  the  place  in  1539,  and  who  attended  him  the 
remainder  of  his  journey.  On  his  arrival  on  their  borders, 
the  Counts  of  Mansfeldt  received  him  with  an  escort  of  more 
than  a  hundred  horse — treating  him  as  the  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony's ambassador.  He  was  extremely  weak,  and  seemed 
near  death  when  he  reached  the  residence  of  Count  Albert, 
on  the  38th  of  January ;  but   medicine,  friction,  warmth. 


OF    LXJTHER.  183 

and  oihex  means  of  resuscitation  revived  him.  He  lost  no 
time  in  entering  upon  the  business  which  had  brought  him 
thither,  and  laboured  indefatigably  in  the  despatch  of  it  for 
three  we-eks  together  ;  being  assisted  by  Wolfgano-  Prince  of 
Anhalt,  Count  Swartzburg,  and  others  ;  but  his  success 
was  not  such  as  he  could  have  wished,  though  other  points, 
relating  to  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the  country,  were 
brought  to  some  satisfactory  conclusion. 

In  the  mean  while  his  health  was  declining.  Some  time 
before,  he  had  had  a  seton  or  issue  opened  in  his  leg,  which 
had  been  the  means  of  so  much  relieving  his  head,  that  he 
had  been  able  to  walk  to  church  and  to  the  lecture-room, 
and  to  mount  the  pulpit ;  whereas  previously  he  was 
obliged  to  be  conveyed  in  a  carriage,  and  often  could  only 
address  his  family  at  home.  But,  on  leaving  Wittemberg 
for  Eisleben,  he  had  failed  to  take  with  him  the  applica- 
tions used  for  keeping  up  the  discharge,  and  amid  the  pres- 
sure of  his  present  engagements  this  relief  was  neglected, 
which  proved  of  bad  consequence. 

Thus  matters  proceeded  till  the  1 7th  of  February,  Luther 
at  all  proper  times  applying  himself  to  business,  eating  and 
sleeping  well,  and  being  very  cheerful  in  his  conversation. 
On  that  day,  his  friends  perceiving  more  repose  to  be  desir- 
able for  him,  persuaded  him  to  keep  quiet  in  his  study, 
which  he  did,  frequently  walking  up  and  down,  in  an  un- 
dress, but  conversing  with  animation.  "  From  time  to 
time,"  says  Justus  Jonas,  "  he  would  stop,  and  looking 
out  at  the  window,  in  that  attitude  (as  his  custom  was) 
address  fervent  prayers  to  God,  so  that  I  and  Coslius,  who 
were  in  the  room  with  him,  could  not  but  perceive  it ;  and 
then  he  would  say,  '  I  was  born  and  baptized  here  at  Eisle- 
ben, what  if  I  should  remain  or  even  die  here  V  " 

Though,  however,  Luther  passed  the  day  in  his  study, 
he  did  not  choose  to  sup  there,  but  in  the  large  dining- 
room,  observing,  that  "  to  be  solitary  did  not  help  the 
spirits."  During  supper,  he  quoted  and  made  observations 
on  many  interesting  passages  of  Scripture.  The  conver- 
sation also  happening  to  turn  on  the  question,  whether  the 
righteous  in  a  future  state  of  blessedness  would  recognise 
those  who  had  been  their  friends  on  earth,  he  gave  his 
opinion  decidedly  in  the  affirmative.  In  the  course  of  more 
ordinary  conversation,  he  remarked,  "  If  I  can  but  estab- 


184  DEATH   OF   LFTHER. 

lish  peace  among  the  counts,  the  rulers  of  my  country,  I 
will  then  go  home,  lay  myself  down  in  my  coffin,  and  give 
my  body  for  food  to  the  worms." 

Before  supper  he  had  complained  of  a  pain  in  the  chest, 
to  which  he  was  subject.  It  was,  however,  relieved  by 
warm  applications.  After  supper  it  returned,  but  he  would 
not  have  medical  aid  called  in,  but  about  nine  o'clock  lay 
down  on  a  couch  and  fell  asleep.  He  awoke  as  the  clock 
struck  ten,  and  desired  that  those  about  him  would  retire 
to  rest.  When  led  into  his  chamber  he  said,  "  I  go  to  rest 
with  God ;"  and  repeated  the  words  of  the  Psalm,  "  Into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit ;"  and  stretching  out  his 
hand  to  bid  all  good  night,  he  added,  "  Pray  for  the  cause 
of  God  !"  He  then  went  to  bed,  but  about  one  o'clock  he 
awoke  Jonas  and  another  who  slept  in  the  room  with  him, 
desired  that  a  fire  might  be  made  in  his  study,  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh  God  !  how  ill  I  am  !  I  suffer  dreadful  op- 
pression in  my  chest ;  I  shall  certainly  die  at  Eisleben  !'* 
— He  then  removed  into  his  study  without  requiring  assist- 
ance, and  again  repeating,  "  Into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit !"  He  walked  backwards  and  forwards,  and  desired 
to  have  warm  cloths  brought  him.  In  the  mean  time  his 
physicians  were  sent  for,  as  also  Count  Albert,  who  pres- 
ently came  with  his  countess.  All  Luther's  friends  and 
his  sons  were  now  collected  about  him,  medicines  were 
given  him,  and  he  seemed  somewhat  relieved,  and  having 
lain  down  on  a  couch  he  fell  into  a  perspiration.  This  gave 
encouragement  to  some  present,  but  he  said,  "  It  is  a  cold 
sweat,  the  forerunner  of  death;  I  shall  yield  up  my  spirit." 
He  then  began  to  pray,  nearly  in  these  words,  "  0  eternal 
and  merciful  God,  my  Heavenly  Father,  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  God  of  all  consolation  !  I  thank  thee  that 
thou  hast  revealed  to  me  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  I 
,have  believed,  whom  I  have  preached,  whom  I  have  con- 
fessed, whom  I  love  and  worship  as  my  dear  Saviour  and 
Redeemer,  whom  the  pope  and  the  multitude  of  the  ungodly 
do  persecute,  revile,  and  blaspheme.  I  beseech  thee,  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  receive  my  soul !  0  Heavenly  Father, 
though  I  be  snatched  out  of  this  life,  though  I  must  now 
lay  down  this  body,  yet  know  I  assuredly  that  I  shall  dwell 
with  thee  forever,  and  that  none  can  pluck  me  out  of  thy 
hands  !"     He  then  thrice  again  repeated  the  words,  "  Into 


FUNERAL    OF    LUTHER.  185 

thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit ;  thou  hast  redeemed  me, 
O  Lord  God  of  truth  !"  Also  those  words,  "  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life  ;"  and  that  verse  of  the  Ixviiith  Psalm,  "  Our  God  is 
the  God  of  whom  cometh  salvation ;  God  is  the  Lord  by 
whom  we  escape  death."  He  then  became  silent,  and  his 
powers  began  to  fail  him  ;  but  when  several  present  ad- 
dressed him,  "  Reverend  father,  you  die  in  the  constant 
confession  of  Christ  and  his  doctrine,  which  you  have 
preached  ?"  he  distinctly  answered,  "  Yes,"  and  spoke  no 
more ;  but  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  afterward,  between 
two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  February  18,  "  with 
his  hands  clasped  together,  and  without  a  finger  or  a  fea- 
ture being  disturbed,  gently  breathed  his  last." 

Such  is  the  account  which  Justus  Jonas  wrote  to  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  by  the  hand  of  Count  Albert's  secretary, 
within  half  an  hour  after  Luther's  death  ;  except  that  in  a 
few  passages  some  things  are  supplied  from  the  fuller  nar- 
rative which  was  drawn  up  for  insertion  in  Luther's  Ger- 
man works,  and  authenticated  by  the  signatures  of  Justus 
Jonas,  Superintendent  of  Halle,  and  formerly  rector  of  the 
university  of  Wittemberg,  Michael  Coelius,  Pastor  of  Eisle- 
ben,  and  John  Aurifaber,  chaplain  to  the  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony ;  all  of  whom  were  present  with  Luther  to  the  last. 

Thus  died  in  peace  the  man,  who,  bearing  no  higher 
office  than  that  of  an  Augustinian  monk,  and  afterward 
of  a  Protestant  professor  of  divinity,  had  shaken  to  its  cen- 
tre one  of  the  most  firmly  seated  systems  of  despotism  and 
delusion  that  the  world  ever  beheld ;  who  had  provoked, 
and  for  nearly  thirty  years  together  defied,  the  utmost 
malice  of  those  mighty  powers  which  had  a  little  time  be- 
fore made  the  proudest  monarchs  to  tremble  on  their 
thrones ;  while,  for  the  suppression  of  his  principles  diet 
after  diet  of  the  German  empire,  aided  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  papal  authority,  met  in  vain.  His  hand  had 
been  against  every  man  that  was  engaged  on  the  side  of 
reigning  error,  and  every  such  man's  hand  against  him  ; 
yet  not  one  of  them  could  touch  a  hair  of  his  head  to  his 
hurt  :  he  lived  and  died  unharmed,  not  only  "  in  the  pres- 
ence of  all  his  brethren,"  but  in  despite  of  all  his  enemies. 
So  marvellous  is  the  providence  of  God  ;  so  inexhaustible 
Q2 


186  FUNERAL   OF    LUTHER. 

is  his  store  of  means  for  accomplishing  "  all  his  pleasure  ;** 
and  so  secure,  under  all  circumstances,  is  the  man  over 
whom  the  shield  of  his  protection  is  extended. 

Count  Albert  would  gladly  have  retained  the  body  of 
Luther,  and  interred  it  in  the  country  which  gave  it  birth  ; 
but  he  submitted  to  the  wishes  of  the  elector,  who  directed 
it  to  be  conveyed  to  Wittemberg.  Jonas's  letter  having 
been  despatched  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  elector's 
pleasure  was  signified  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  by 
the  return  of  the  courier  from  Weimar.  The  next  day, 
therefore,  the  corpse  was  solemnly  conveyed,  with  the 
singing  of  hymns,  and  attended  by  all  the  Counts  of  Mans- 
feldt  and  a  numerous  procession  of  persons  of  high  rank, 
to  the  church  of  St.  Andrew  at  Eisleben,  to  be  deposited 
there  till  preparations  were  made  for  its  removal.  On  this 
occasion  Justus  Jonas  delivered  an  address  to  the  assem- 
bled multitude,  from  the  latter  part  of  1  Thessalonians  iv. 
On  the  21st,  Coelius  preached  from  the  opening  of  Isaiah 
Ivii.,  "The  righteous  perisheth,"  &c.;  and  after  the  sermon 
the  body  was  removed,  amid  an  immense  concourse  of  peo- 
ple, and  conveyed  with  a  splendid  procession  as  far  as 
Halle.  Hither  people  flocked  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
to  meet  it,  and  it  was  received  at  the  gates  by  the  senators, 
ministers,  and  all  the  principal  persons  of  the  place.  It 
was  deposited  for  the  night  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary,  where, 
says  the  writer  of  the  narrative,  the  cxxxth  Psalm  was  "  ex- 
pressed, not  so  much  by  singing,  as  by  the  tears  and  sobs 
of  the  whole  people."  Early  the  next  day  the  procession 
set  forward  towards  Wittemberg,  and  was  met  on  the  road 
by  a  deputation  sent  by  the  elector  to  receive  it.  It  rested 
that  night  at  Kemberg,  and  on  February  23d  reached  Wit- 
temberg. When  it  approached  the  gate  of  the  city,  the 
rector,  the  professors,  and  the  students  of  the  university, 
with  all  the  principal  citizens,  met  and  joined  the  proces- 
sion ;  after  which  it  advanced,  attended  by  the  whole  pop- 
ulation, to  All-Saints  church.  The  widow  of  Luther,  with 
her  daughter,  and  some  other  female  attendants,  her  three 
sons,  and  Melancthon,  Jonas,  Bugenhagen,  Cruciger,  and 
other  intimate  friends  of  the  deceased,  took  their  place  im- 
mediately after  the  corpse.  So  great  an  assemblage  of  per- 
sons, it   is  said,  was   never  before  seen  at  Wittemberg. 


FUNERAL   OF   LXJTHER.  187 

Suitable  hymns  were  sung  as  the  funeral  proceeded  through 
the  streets  of  the  city.  On  arriving  at  the  church,  the 
coffin  was  placed  on  the  right-hand  of  the  pulpit ;  whence, 
after  some  further  verses  had  been  sung,  Bugenhagen  de- 
livered an  appropriate  discourse  to  some  thousands  of  per- 
sons. Melancthon  then  pronounced  a  funeral  oration,  both 
expressive  of  his  own  affection,  and  calculated  to  soothe  the 
sorrows  of  the  bereaved  church  :  after  which  the  body  was 
committed  to  the  tomb,  hard  by  the  spot  from  which  the 
reformer  had  preached  so  many  animated  and  devout  ser- 
mons before  the  Electors  and  Dukes  of  Saxony,  and  the 
whole  church. 

Such  is  the  account  given  of  the  funeral  by  the  same 
persons  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  narrative  of 
Luther's  closing  scene.  The  pomp  of  his  funeral  is  much 
carped  at  by  CochlEeus,  Maimbourg,  and  other  popish  writers. 
The  former  is  reminded  by  his  tin  coffin  of  the  iron  one  of 
Mahomet ;  and  in  that  finds  an  image  of  the  hardened  heart 
and  front  of  Luther!  The  latter  asserts,  without  any 
foundation  in  fact,  that  the  elector  raised  to  his  memory 
a  monument  of  white  marble,  surrounded  with  the  statues 
of  the  twelve  apostles — intending  to  intimate  that  Luther 
was  "  a  thirteenth,  to  be  added  to  their  number."  But  it  is 
as  unnecessary  as  it  would  be  nauseating  to  retail,  for  the 
purpose  of  exposing  them,  all  the  cavils  of  such  writers,  in 
which  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  folly  or  malignity  prepon- 
derates. 

CochlaBUs  censures  the  secular,  or,  as  he  is  pleased  to  call 
it,  the  "  profane  "  employment  in  which  Luther  closed  his 
days  :  but  we  may  much  more  justly  adopt  the  sentiments 
of  Seckendorf :  "He  was  well  prepared  for  death,  and,  as 
his  writings  and  conversation  showed,  had  been  long  desiring 
and  praying  for  it  ;  and  he  ended  his  days  in  the  pious  and 
honourable  discharge  of  business  of  high  importance"  to  the 
peace  and  the  liberties  of  his  native  country.  "  In  the 
midst  of  this  business  he  found  leisure  for  daily  and  fervent 
prayer.  In  the  short  and  busy  time  which  he  spent  at 
Eisleben,"  notwithstanding  all  his  infirmities,  "he  preached 
three  or  four  times,  and  twice  received  the  sacrament,  after 
confession  and  absolution.  He  died  after  cheerful  and 
pious  conversation  with  his  friends  ;  his  sons  and  several 
illustrious  persons  of  both  sexes  standing  round  him,  and 


188  IMPRESSIONS    MADE. 

waiting  upon  him ;  and,  after  a  conflict  of  only  a  few  liouTiS, 
which  he  sustained  in  a  becoming  manner,  came  off  '  more 
than  conqueror.'  His  age,  though  not  very  advanced,  was 
what  comparatively  few  attain.  His  own  observation  upon 
this  subject,  made  at  the  supper-table  the  very  night  of  his 
death,  was  remarkable  :  *  If  a  child  of  a  year  old  dies,  very 
likely,  taking  all  the  world  over,  a  thousand  or  two  thousand 
of  the  same  age  depart  with  him  :  but,  when  I,  an  old  man 
of  sixty-three  die,  scarcely  sixty  or  a  hundred  as  far  ad- 
vanced in  years  will  accompany  me.'  " 

The  news  of  Luther's  death  excited  the  deepest  grief  in 
all  quarters  among  the  friends  of  the  reformation;  which 
was  strikingly  expressed  in  the  correspondence  of  many 
eminent  persons  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  Amsdorf 
declared  himself  not  only  distressed,  but  quite  alarmed,  at  his 
venerated  friend's  removal  at  such  a  period.  "  He  feared," 
he  said,  "  that  it  was  the  forerunner  of  judgments,  which  it  had 
pleased  God  to  spare  this  his  distinguished  servant  the  pain 
of  beholding  :"  and  many  others  wrote  in  the  same  strain. 
The  heads  of  the  university  of  Wittemberg,  in  reply  to  a 
letter  which  the  elector  had  addressed  to  them,  announcing 
the  sad  event,  and  exhorting  them  not  to  be  discouraged, 
but  to  persevere  in  their  studies  and  pursuits,  spoke  of 
themselves  as  both  "  distressed  and  terrified."  "  We  are 
now,"  say  they,  "  orphans,  bereaved  and  solitary.  The 
Divine  will,  however,  must  be  obeyed ;  and  we  must  rest  on 
the  consolatory  promises  of  the  Son  of  God,  '  I  will  not 
leave  you  orphans' — '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.'  We  implore  him  to  be  the  pilot  of 
his  own  vessel,  and  to  protect  and  guide  your  highness. 
We  acknowledge  ourselves  bound  '  to  keep  that  which  is 
committed  unto  us.'  A  precious  deposit  indeed  our  departed 
father  has  left  us,  in  the  knowledge  of  the  pure  doctrine  of 
Christ :  we  desire  to  transmit  it  untarnished  to  posterity  ; 
and  implore  the  grace  of  God  to  enable  us  to  do  so." 

Luther  left  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  Elector  of 
Saxony  and  the  Counts  of  Mansfeldt  provided  for  his  widow 
and  family.  His  children  appear  all  to  have  done  credit  to 
their  father's  memory,  and  his  son  Paul,  in  particular, 
became  eminently  distinguished  in  the  medical  profession. 


CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER.  189 

He  was  also  a  faithful  supporter  of  his  father's  principles. 
From  him  the  family  was  propagated ;  and  it  continued 
respectable,  both  for  character  and  situation,  through  several 
generations.* 

The  character  of  Luther  has  been  delineated  by  so 
many  hands,  its  features  are  so  marked  and  prominent,  and 
he  is  himself  now  so  fully  before  the  readers  of  this  history 
in  all  his  modes  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  acting,  from  first 
to  last,  that  I  should  esteem  it  superfluous  to  attempt  anew 
any  elaborate  description  of  his  various  endowments, 
whether  of  the  understanding  or  of  the  heart.  It  may  be 
of  more  real  service  to  bring  under  review  the  parting 
estimate  formed  of  him  by  one  of  our  most  popular,  and  at 
the  same  time  most  judicious,  writers.  The  historian  of 
Charles  V.  will  likewise  be  less  suspected  of  partiality  for 
the  great  reformer  than  either  Dr.  Milner  or  myself;  yet 
he  will  be  found  to  confirm,  in  many  important  particulars, 
the  sentiments  expressed  concerning  him  throughout  the 
present  work.  What  may  appear  to  me  erroneous  in  Dr. 
Robertson's  summary,  I  shall  endeavour  to  correct,  and  to 
supply  any  thing  material  which  I  think  to  be  wanting. 

"  As  Luther  was  raised  up  by  Providence,"  Dr.  Robertson 
says,  "  to  be  the  author  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
interesting  revolutions  recorded  in  history,  there  is  not  any 
person  perhaps  whose  character  has  been  drawn  with  such 
opposite  colours.  In  his  own  age,  one  party,  struck  with 
horror  and  inflamed  with  rage,  when  they  saw  with  what  a 
daring  hand  he  overturned  every  thing  which  they  held  to 
be  sacred,  or  valued  as  beneficial,  imputed  to  him  not  only 
all  the  defects  and  vices  of  a  man,  but  the  qualities  of  a 
demon.  The  other,  warmed  with  the  admiration  and  grati- 
tude which  they  thought  he  merited  as  the  restorer  of  light 
and  liberty  to  the  Christian  church,  ascribed  to  hitn  perfec- 
tions above  the  condition  of  humanity,  and  viewed  all  his 
actions  with  a  veneration  bordering  on  that  which  should 
be  paid  only  to  those  who  are  guided  by  the  immediate 
inspiration   of  Heaven.     It  is  his  own  conduct,   not   the 


*  Seek.  iii.  647, 651, 652,.  The  last  lineal  descendant  whom  I  have  seen 
mentioned,  Martin  Gottlob  Luther,  died  at  Dresden,  1759.— Life  of  LU' 
ther  by  Tiacher. 


190  CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER. 

undistinguishing  censure,  or  the  exaggerated  praise,  of  his 
contemporaries,  that  ought  to  regulate  the  opinions  of  the 
present  age  concerning  hira.  Zeal  for  what  he  regarded  as 
truth,  undaunted  intrepidity  to  maintain  his  own  system, 
abilities  both  natural  and  acquired  to  defend  his  principles, 
and  unwearied  industry  in  propagating  them,  are  virtues 
which  shine  so  conspicuously  in  every  part  of  his  behaviour, 
that  even  his  enemies  must  allow  him  to  have  possessed 
them  in  an  eminent  degree.  To  these  may  be  added,  with 
equal  justice,  such  purity  and  even  austerity  of  manners,  as 
became  one  who  assumed  the  character  of  a  reformer  ;  such 
sanctity  of  life  as  suited  the  doctrine  which  he  delivered  ; 
and  such  perfect  disinterestedness  as  affords  no  slight  pre- 
sumption of  his  sincerity.  Superior  to  all  selfish  considera- 
tions, a  stranger  to  the  elegancies  of  life,  and  despising  its 
pleasures,  he  left  the  honours  and  emoluments  of  the 
church  to  his  disciples,  remaining  satisfied  himself  in  his 
original  state  of  professor  in  the  university,  and  pastor  of 
the  town  of  Wittemberg,  with  the  moderate  appointments 
annexed  to  these  offices.  His  extraordinary  qualities  were 
alloyed  with  no  inconsiderable  mixture  of  human  frailty 
and  human  passions.  These,  however,  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  they  cannot  be  imputed  to  malevolence  or  cor- 
ruption of  heart,  but  seem  to  have  taken  their  rise  from  the 
same  source  with  many  of  his  virtues.  His  mind,  forcible 
and  vehement  in  all  its  operations,  roused  by  great  objects, 
or  agitated  by  violent  passions,  broke  out  on  many  occasions 
■with  an  impetuosity  which  astonishes  men  of  feebler  spirits, 
or  such  as  are  placed  in  a  more  tranquil  situation.  By 
carrying  some  praiseworthy  dispositions  to  excess,  he  bor- 
dered sometimes  on  what  was  culpable,  and  was  often 
betrayed  into  actions  which  exposed  hira  to  censure.  His 
confidence  that  his  own  opinions  were  well  founded  ap- 
proached to  arrogance  ;  his  courage  ip  asserting  them  to 
rashness  ;  his  firmness  in  adhering  to'  them  to  obstinacy  ; 
and  his  zeal  in  confuting  his  adversaries  to  rage  and  scur- 
rility. Accustomed  himself  to  consider  every  thing  as  sub- 
ordinate to  truth,  he  expected  the  same  deference  for  it  from 
other  men  ;  and,  without  making  any  allowances  for  their 
timidity  or  prejudices,  he  poured  forth  against  such  as  dis- 
appointed him  in  this  particular  a  torrent  of  invective 
jningled  with  contempt.     Regardless  of  any  distinction  of 


CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER.  191 

rank  or  character  when  his  doctrines  were  attacked,  he 
chastised  all  his  adversaries  indiscriminately  with  the  same 
rough  hand  :  neither  the  royal  dignity  of  Henry  VIII.,  nor 
the  eminent  learning  and  abilities  of  Erasmus,  screened 
them  from  the  same  gross  abuse  with  which  he  treated 
Tetzel  or  Eckius. 

"  But  these  indecencies  of  which  Luther  was  guilty 
must  not  be  imputed  wholly  to  the  violence  of  his  temper. 
They  ought  to  be  charged  in  part  on  the  manners  of  the 
age.  Among  a  rude  people,  unacquainted  with  those  maxims 
which,  by  putting  continual  restraint  on  the  passions  of 
individuals,  have  polished  society,  and  rendered  it  agreeable, 
disputes  were  managed  with  heat,  and  strong  emotions  were 
uttered  in  their  natural  language,  without  reserve  or  deli- 
cacy. At  the  same  time,  the  works  of  learned  men  were  all 
composed  in  Latin,  and  they  were  not  only  authorized  by  the 
example  of  eminent  writers  in  that  language  to  use  their 
antagonists  with  the  most  illiberal  scurrility  ;  but,  in  the 
dead  tongue,  indecencies  of  every  kind  appeared  less  shock- 
ing than  in  a  living  language,  whose  idioms  and  phrases 
seem  gross,  because  they  are  familiar. 

"  In  passing  judgment  upon  the  characters  of  men,  we 
ought  to  try  them  upon  the  principles  and  maxims  of  their 
own  age,  not  by  those  of  another.  For,  although  virtue  and 
vice  are  at  all  times  the  same,  manners  and  customs  vary 
continually.  Some  parts  of  Luther's  behaviour,  which  to 
us  appear  most  culpable,  gave  no  disgust  to  his  contempo- 
raries. It  was  even  by  some  of  those  qualities  which  we 
are  now  apt  to  blame,  that  he  was  fitted  for  accomplishing 
the  great  work  which  he  undertook.  To  rouse  mankind 
when  sunk  in  ignorance  or  superstition,  and  to  encounter  the 
rage  of  bigotry  armed  with  power,  required  the  utmost 
vehemence  of  zeal,  as  well  as  a  temper  daring  to  excess. 
A  gentle  call  would  neither  have  reached,  nor  have  excited 
those  to  whom  it  must  have  been  addressed.  A  spirit  more 
amiable,  but  less  vigorous,  than  Luther's,  would  have  shrunk 
back  from  the  dangers  which  he  braved  and  surmounted. 
Towards  the  close  of  Luther's  life,  though  without  any  per- 
ceptible diminution  of  his  zeal  or  abilities,  the  infirmities  of 
his  temper  increased  upon  him,  so  that  he  grew  daily  more 
peevish,  more  irascible,  and  more  impatient  of  contradiction. 
Having  lived  to  be  a  witness  of  his  own  amazing  success  j 


192  CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER* 

to  see  a  great  part  of  Europe  embrace  his  doctrines  ;  and  to 
shake  the  foundation  of  the  papal  throne,  before  which  the 
mightiest  monarchs  had  trembled  ;  he  discovered,  on  some 
occasions,  symptoms  of  vanity  and  self-applause.  He  must 
have  been,  indeed,  more  than  man,  if,  upon  contemplating 
all  that  he  actually  accomplished,  he  had  never  felt  any  sen- 
timent of  this  kind  arising  in  his  breast. 

"  Some  time  before  his  death,  he  felt  his  strength  declin- 
ing, his  constitution  being  worn  out  by  a  prodigious  multi- 
plicity of  business,  added  to  the  labour  of  discharging  his 
ministerial  function  with  unremitting  diligence,  to  the  fatigue 
of  constant  study,  besides  the  composition  of  works  as 
voluminous  as  if  he  had  enjoyed  uninterrupted  leisure  and 
retirement.  His  natural  intrepidity  did  not  forsake  him  at 
the  approach  of  death  :  his  last  conversation  with  his  friends 
was  concerning  the  happiness  reserved  for  good  men  in  a 
future  life  ;  of  which  he  spoke  with  the  fervour  and  delight 
natural  to  one  who  expected  and  wished  to  enter  soon  upon 
the  enjoyment  of  it.  The  account  of  his  death  filled  the 
Roman  Catholic  party  with  excessive,  as  well  as  indecent 
joy,  and  damped  the  spirit  of  all  his  followers  ;  neither  party 
sufficiently  considering  that  his  doctrines  were  now  so  firmly 
rooted  as  to  be  in  a  condition  to  flourish  independent  of  the 
hand  which  first  had  planted  them." 

The  enumeration  here  made,  both  of  the  excellences  and 
of  the  defects  of  the  reformer's  character,  must  be  acknow- 
ledged to  be,  in  the  main,  and  as  far  as  it  goes,  just.  On 
what  ground,  indeed,  "  austerity  of  manners"  is  ascribed  to 
him,  I  am  not  aware.  His  disposition  was  eminently  social : 
he  enjoyed  conversation,  and  seems  to  have  been  very  much 
the  life  of  the  company  in  which  he  allowed  himself  to 
mingle.  Even  Maimbourg  admits  that,  "when  he  did  not 
give  way  to  anger,  he  was  of  a  very  cheerful  temper,  and 
joked  freely  :"  and  Dr.  Milner  thinks  that  he  even  carried 
hilarity  to  excess.  "  Purity  and  sanctity  of  life,"  and  "  per- 
fect disinterestedness,"  are,  I  am  persuaded,  attributed  to 
him  with  entire  propriety,  notwithstanding  the  attempts 
made,  by  the  perversion  of  some  detached  passages  in  his 
writings,  to  charge  the  contrary  upon  him.  That  "  malevo- 
lence," or  any  real  ill-will,  even  towards  the  objects  of  his 
severest  censure,  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  him,  will  be  apparent 
to  every  candid  student  of  his  history  and  his  writings.     He 


CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER.  193 

spoke  out  all  the  sentiments  of  his  heart,  concerning  both 
the  principles  and  the  conduct  of  those  whom  he  opposed, 
often  with  very  culpable  asperity  of  language  :  but  present 
the  most  virulent  of  his  enemies  to  his  mind  in  circumstances 
which  called  for  compassion,  and  his  bowels  yearned  over 
them.  Witness  his  letter  to  the  wretched  Tetzel,  when  he 
heard  of  the  despair  in  which  he  was  ending  his  days.  I 
am  convinced  that,  with  all  his  impetuosity  and  exterior 
harshness,  he  was  a  man  of  a  warm  and  even  tender  heart. 
And  in  this  connexion  we  ought  by  no  means  to  overlook 
that  freedom  from  a  persecuting  spirit  and  persecuting  prin- 
ciples, which  has  been  shown  to  have  formed  his  honour- 
able distinction  above  almost  all  his  brother  reformers.* 

While,  however,  we  would  cordially  agree  with  Dr.  Robert- 
son in  not  imputing  even  "  the  mixture  of  human  frailty 
and  human  feelings,"  in  Luther's  character,  to  "malevo- 
lence," or,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word,  to  "  cor- 
ruption of  the  heart ;"  we  cannot,  with  him,  trace  these  evils 
to  "  the  same  source  with  many  of  his  virtues."  If  by  this 
any  thing  more  be  meant,  than  that  his  faults  often  sprang 
from  his  good  qualities  being  unduly  exercised,  or  carried  to 
a  culpable  excess  ;  if  it  really  mean,  that  a  fountain  may 
"  send  forth  at  the  same  place  both  sweet  water  and  bitter;" 
it  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  highly  objectionable  :  but,  as 
bearing  only  that  qualified  sense  which  we  have  supposed, 
it  may  be  sufficient  to  say  of  the  passage,  that  while  the 
sentiment  may  not  be  incorrect,  the  mode  of  expressing  it  is 
very  exceptionable. 

That  Luther  treated  Erasmus  with  "  the  same  gross  abuse 
as  Tetzel  or  Eckius,"  is  a  highly  overcharged  statement. 
He  showed  much  forbearance  towards  that  learned  man  ; 
bestowed  great  pains  to  conciliate,  or  at  least  to  avoid  alien- 
ating him ;  and  always,  I  think,  considerably  tempered  his 
language  towards  him.f  For  the  coarseness  and  severity 
of  his  language  towards  Henry  YHL,  he  himself  afterward 
apologized  :  and  there  is  much  justness  in  the  considerations 
which  Dr.  R.  proposes  in  extenuation  of  these  faults  of  too 
many  of  his  writings.  Yet,  after  all,  as  Dr.  Milner  has 
observed,  neither  the  language  itself  nor  the  temper  of  mind 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  222,  332,  &c. 
tVol.  i.  p.  236,  238,  241,251. 

Vol.  n.— R 


194  CHARACTER    OF   LUTHER. 

which  dictated  it  (a  violent,  though  not  a  mahgnant  temper) 
is  to  be  excused.  They  formed  the  greatest  blemish  of 
Luther's  character.  The  simple  fact  of  his  "  expecting 
from  men  a  deference  for  truth,"  which  should  lead  them  "  to 
consider  every  thing  as  subordinate  to  it,"  we  can  never 
regard  as  implying  an  erroneous  estimate  of  things  ;  though 
we  would  offer  no  apology  for  any  "  invective"  or  "  con- 
tempt" into  which  the  disappointment  of  such  expectation 
might  betray  him. 

The  largeness  of  mind  which  rendered  Luther,  in  general, 
quite  indifferent  about  trifling  objects,  while  he  would  con- 
cede nothing  to  any  man  in  points  which  he  esteemed  to  be 
of  real  importance,  has  been  repeatedly,  or  even  throughout 
his  whole  history,  presented  to  our  notice.  Nor  could  this 
be  separated  from  a  real  moderation  of  spirit  in  many  par- 
ticulars, however  little  that  quality  may  have  been  generally 
allowed  to  him.  Undeniable  instances  of  it  occur  in  what 
he  was  ready  to  yield  with  respect  to  the  power  and  juris- 
diction of  the  bishops,  what  he  urged  in  favour  of  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  canonries  in  cathedral  churches,  and  his 
advice  in  the  case  of  Osiander ;  not  to  mention  that  which 
he  gave  concerning  the  discontinuance  of  the  Protestant 
preaching  at  Augsburg  during  the  period  of  the  diet,  if  the 
emperor  should  require  it.* 

"  His  confidence  that  his  own  opinions  were  well  founded" 
might  sometimes  (and  that  in  other  instances  besides  the 
sacramental  controversy)  "  approach  to  arrogance  ;"  and 
*'  symptoms  of  vanity  and  self-applause"  might  "  on  some 
occasions  be  discovered :"  he  must  indeed,  as  Dr.  R.  ob- 
serves, have  been  "  more  than  man,  if,  upon  contemplating 
all  that  he"  had  been  made  the  means  of  actually  accom- 
plishing, "  he  had  never  felt  any  sentiment  of  this  kind 
rising  in  his  breast :"  yet  there  was  not  wanting  in  him  that 
real  modesty  in  estimating  his  own  endowments  and  per- 
formances which  is  essential  alike  to  a  truly  great  and  a 
truly  good  man.  Of  this  too  we  have  seen  proofs,  and  ad- 
ditional ones  are  yet  in  reserve.! 

With  all  his  heat  and  violence,  likewise,  he  was  seldom 

*  See  p.  12,  115,  124. 

t  See  above,  his  conversation  with  Bucer  on  preaching,  p. 79;  his  letter 
to  Venice,  p.  121,  122  ;  his  observations  on  his  own  writings,  on  several 
occasions ,  and  below,  his  letter  to  Brentius. 


CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER.  195 

chargeable  with  rashness  or  imprudence  in  his  conduct.  He 
might  speak  hastily,  but  he  generally  acted  wisely.*  Indeed, 
as  Melancthon  has  observed  of  him  in  his  funeral  oration, 
he  possessed  an  intuitive  sagacity  which  seemed  at  once  to 
suggest  to  him  both  what  was  true,  and  what,  in  difficult 
circumstances,  was  right  to  be  done. 

But  the  sentence  in  Dr.  Robertson's  account  of  him,  which 
would  be  much  more  painful  than  any  other,  were  there 
reason  to  believe  it  correct,  is  the  following  :  "  Towards  the 
close  of  Luther's  life,  though  without  any  perceptible  dimi- 
nution of  his  zeal  or  abilities,  the  infirmities  of  his  temper 
increased  upon  him,  so  that  he  grew  daily  more  peevish, 
more  irascible,  and  more  impatient  of  contradiction."  This 
is  the  very  imputation  which  his  worst  enemies  labour  to  fix 
upon  him.  "  Never,"  says  Maimbourg,  "  was  this  here- 
siarch  more  violent  or  more  extravagant  in  his  hostility  to  the 
church  and  the  pope,  than  immediately  before  his  death  :" 
and  for  this  he  assigns,  as  a  reason,  his  dread  of  the  council 
of  Trent,  and  other  causes  equally  imaginary.  But  Secken- 
dorf,  on  the  contrary,  affirms  that  his  writings  against  the 
papacy  were  no  more  severe  than  they  had  been  almost  ever 
since  the  diet  of  Worms  ;  that  he  was  never  more  inclined 
to  peace  ;  for  the  sake  of  which  he  was  willing  to  leave  the 
pope  and  the  bishops  in  possession  of  all  their  wealth  and 
dignity  ;  and  to  tolerate  ail  ceremonies  which  could  be  con- 
sidered as  indiflferent — provided  only  pure  doctrine  were 
allowed,  and  persecution  abandoned.  Bossuet  would  extend 
the  same  injurious  representation  to  his  conduct  to  the  sacra- 
mentarians,  and  even  to  his  own  immediate  friends  :  and 
towards  the  former  we  must  acknowledge  that  he  at  all 
times  acted  with  very  unwarrantable  harshness.  But  with 
respect  to  the  charge  of  increasing  irascibility  of  temper  as 
the  close  of  life  approached,  we  may  first  remark,  that  cer- 
tainly no  traces  of  it  are  to  be  discovered  amid  all  the  em- 
ployments which  filled  up  several  of  his  last  w^eeks.  In  his 
undertaking  the  business  which  carried  him  to  Eisleben,  in 
his  journey  thither  in  the  depth  of  winter,  in  his  preaching 
by  the  way,  in  the  manner  in  which  he  passed  his  time 
there,  in  his  sermons,  his  labours,  his  intercourse  with  his 
friends,  and  his  devotions,  we  find  nothing  but  what  was 

*  Dean  Miliier. 


196  LUTHER   AND    MELANCTHON. 

peaceable,  benevolent,  and  pious.  Nor  do  I  recollect  any 
thing  particular  of  a  contrary  kind  subsequent  to  his  return 
to  Wittemberg,  in  the  summer  of  1545.  But  it  is  in  his 
previous  sudden  departure  from  that  place,  with  the  causes 
and  the  state  of  feeling  which  led  to  it,  that  we  may  prob- 
ably trace  what  has  given  occasion  to  the  painful  represent- 
ation, too  hastily,  as  I  trust,  adopted  by  Dr.  Robertson.  As 
we  have  before  stated,  however,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  to  have  been  a  passing  cloud,  shedding  a  gloomy  influ- 
ence over  the  reformer's  mind  (such  as  the  firmest  and  best 
regulated  spirit  may  not  always  escape),  rather  than  any 
thing  permanent  :  and  surely,  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case>  we  may  admit  that  it  calls  more  for  our  condo- 
lence than  for  severe  censure.  Luther  was  worn  down  with 
care  and  labour,  with  disease  and  pain.  External  events 
also  were  at  that  juncture  peculiarly  harassing  :  and  all  this 
acting  upon  a  temper  naturally  irritable,  and,  it  is  admitted, 
not  so  much  softened  and  subdued  as  it  ought  to  have  been, 
for  a  time  overcame  him.  He  was  peevish  and  impatient  to 
those  about  him,  and  he  could  no  longer  bear  the  scene  of 
his  vexations.  The  course  however  which  he  took  was  the 
proper  one  :  he  retired,  he  relaxed  himself,  he  visited  his 
pious  friends  Amsdorf,  George  of  Anhalt,  and  others,  and 
no  doubt  he  communed  with  his  God.  The  elector  wrote 
affectionately  to  him  :  the  university  solicited  his  return. 
He  complied,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  his  fretfulness  and 
desertion  of  his  duties.  I  trust  this  is  the  true  account  of 
the  case  ;  which,  while  from  the  censures  entailed  upon 
Luther  it  may  admonish  us  how  much  it  behooves  even  the 
greatest  and  best  of  men  never  to  relax  their  watchfulness, 
but  to  pray  to  the  last,  "  Hold  thou  me  up  and  I  shall  be 
safe  ;"  may  teach  us  also  candour  and  forbearance  in  our 
judgments,  and  may  especially  guard  us  against  confounding 
what  is  transient  in  the  feelings  of  any  one  with  what  is 
habitual  and  a  part  of  his  character. 

And  here,  after  reviewing  these  several  qualities  of  Lu- 
ther's temper  and  mind,  we  may  justly  take  occasion  to  notice 
the  admirable  arrangement  of  Divine  Providence,  in  giving 
him  and  Melancthon  to  be  so  intimately  associated  together. 
"  Helps  meet"  for  one  another  they  assuredly  were,  in  a 
very  remarkable  degree.  Maimbourg  indeed  cannot  but 
stand  astonished  at  their  close  and  lasting  union.     "  Was 


LUTHER   AND    MELANCTHON.  197 

there  ever,"  he  is  ready  to  ask,  "  so  extraordinary  and 
almost  unnatural  a  friendship  between  men,  from  the  con- 
trariety of  whose  tempers  we  might  rather  have  expected 
an  irreconcilable  antipathy  1  Luther  was  daring,  imperious, 
fierce,  irritable,  prompt  to  decide,  and  obstinate  in  adhering 
to  his  opinions,  though,  among  his  friends,  entertaining  and 
jocose.  Melancthon  was  mild,  humble,  moderate,  exceed- 
ingly grave,  studious  of  peace,  and  ready  to  concede  almost 
any  thing  for  the  sake  of  it ;  nay,  even  timid,  hesitating, 
and  indecisive  in  every  thing."  While  giving  this  some- 
what exaggerated  description  of  the  points  of  difference 
between  the  two  characters,  the  writer  has  neglected  to 
observe,  that  in  the  great  principles  which  governed  them 
both  they  were  indissolubly  united.  "  The  love  of  Christ 
constrained"  them.  Zeal  for  God,  regard  for  the  good  of 
mankind,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  an  ardent  attach- 
ment to  divine  truth  ruled  in  both  their  hearts,  and  prompted 
their  conduct :  and  they  in  whom  such  principles  prevail 
are  "  taught  of  God  to  love  one  another."  When  this 
great  basis  of  union  was  laid,  it  is  obvious  also  that  many 
of  the  qualities  enumerated  would  adapt  them  to  each  other, 
rather  than  the  contrary.  Each  was  suited  to  supply  some- 
what that  the  other  wanted,  or  to  moderate  somewhat  in 
which  he  was  prone  to  exceed.  Each  accordingly  felt  how 
much  he  owed  to  the  other,  both  personally  and  in  the  great 
work  which  they  were  jointly  carrying  on  :  and  hence  their 
attachment  was  affectionate  and  uninterrupted.* 

I  am  willing  here  to  adopt,  perhaps  with  a  little  reserve 
in  some  clauses,  the  sentences  of  a  modern  biographer  of 
Melancthon.  "  The  profound  learning  and  cultivated  taste 
of  the  one,  the  vigorous  zeal,  independent  spirit,  and  daunt- 
less heroism  of  the  other,  alike  conduced  to  dissipate  the 
delusions  of  the  age.  Both  adopted  the  same  general 
views  ;  and  each  was  equally  solicitous  of  removing  that  vail 
o'f  Egyptian  darkness  that  overspread  the  face  of  the  world  : 

yet  they  were  constitutionally  different Truth   would 

undoubtedly  have  suffered,  had  the  one  been  less  energetic 

*  See  Melancthon's  acknowledgment  of  his  obligations  to  Luther,  in 
his  will,  above,  p  112.  Of  Luther's  reciprocal  regard  and  obligations  we 
may  admit  Maimbourg's  testimony :  "  Luther,  in  return,  loved  him  so 
tenderly,  and  esteemed  him  so  highly,  that  by  him  alone  would  he  suffer 
himself  to  be  admonished  and  moderated  under  excessive  irritation." 
R2 


198  CHARACTER   OF   LUTHER. 

or  daring,  or  the  other  less  moderate  and  cultivated If 

the  reformation  claimed  the  steady  efforts  of  true  courage 
and  inextinguishable  zeal,  be  it  remembered  also  that  it  no 
less  required  a  proportion  of  nice  discernment,  elegant  taste, 
and  literary  skill ;  if  a  superstition  which  invested  a  mortal 
with  the  prerogative  of  infallibility  were  to  be  attacked  and 
levelled  with  the  dust,  the  ignorance  which,  with  its  charac- 
teristic blindness,  supported  that  superstition,  was  at  the 
same  time  to  be  dethroned  and  demolished  :  if  old  abuses 
were  to  be  removed,  and  a  new  order  of  things  to  be  intro- 
duced and  systematized,  it  was  desirable  to  find,  not  only  a 
nervous  arm,  but  a  polished  mind,  at  once  to  clear  away  the 
rubbish  of  error,  and  clothe  unwelcome  novelties  with 
attractive  beauty  :  in  a  word,  if  existing  circumstances  called 
for  a  iMARTiN  LuTHEK,  they  also  demanded  a  Philip  Me- 

LANCTHON."* 

But  some  of  the  leading  excellences  which  distinguished 
the  great  father  of  the  reformation,  and  which  especially 
endear  him  to  the  truly  Christian  mind,  are  wholly  passed 
over  in  the  review  which  has  thus  far  been  made  of  his 
character.  We  will  not  atfirm  quite  so  much  as  this  of  the 
sterling  and  uncompromising  honesty,  which  is  one  of  the 
features  that  most  stands  out  from  the  canvass  in  his  genuine 
portrait :  yet  even  this  has  not  been  presented  with  the 
prominence  that  belongs  to  it.  Can  any  one  read  over  the 
history  of  Luther  which  is  now  before  him,  the  detail  of  his 
actual  sayings  and  doings,  without  feeling  that,  if  ever 
honesty  and  integrity  were  imbodied,  it  was  in  him  ?  He 
avowed  nothing  but  what  he  conscientiously  believed  :  he 
kept  back  nothing  which  conscience  dictated  to  be  avowed. 
Can  any  man  of  common  fairness  doubt  this  1  For  myself, 
I  must  confess,  that  I  never  read  of  the  man  in  whom  I  felt 
compelled  to  place  a  more  unreserved  reliance,  both  for  the 
truth  of  all  his  declarations  and  the  uprightness  of  all  his 
intentions. 

And  then,  not  only  was  his  belief  of  all  he  taught  most 
sincere,  it  was  also  most  thoroughly  practical  and  influen- 
tial. He  himself  daily  lived  upon  that  bread  of  life  which 
he  broke  to  others.  The  doctrines  which  he  preached  to 
mankind  were  the  support  of  all  his  own  hopes,  the  spring 

*  Cox's  Life  of  Melancthon. 


CHARACTER    OP   LUTHER.  199 

of  all  his  comforts,  the  source  of  his  peace  of  mind,  of  his 
strength  for  service  or  for  suffering  in  the  cause  of  God, 
the  principles  which  evermore  governed  and  animated  him  ; 
raised  him  above  the  fear  of  man,  and  the  love  of  the  world, 
and  carried  him  with  an  heroic  elevation  of  soul  through  a 
series  of  labours  and  dangers,  never  perhaps  surpassed 
since  the  days  of  the  apostle  Paul.  In  the  genuine  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel,  and  especially  in  that  of  our  being 
"justified  freely,  by  God's  grace,  through  the  redemption 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;"  and  this  inestimable  benefit 
appropriated  only  by  a  living  faith,  and  not  by  our  own 
works  or  deservings  ;  he  found  that  which  could  alone 
relieve  his  own  conscience  from  an  anxiety  amountinir,  at 
times,  even  to  anguish,  and  for  want  of  which  he  saw  the 
whole  Christian  world  around  him  groaning  under  a  system 
of  delusion,  imposition,  and  bondage  the  most  intolerable 
and  ruinous  :  and  what  he  had  thus  found  to  be  the  relief 
and  salvation  of  his  own  soul  he  could  not  but  proclaim  to 
others  also.  "  A^either  counted  he  his  life  dear  unto  him- 
self, so  that  he  might  finish  his  course  with  joy,  and  the 
ministry  which  he  had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  Gody  Never  probably  did  there 
exist  the  man  who  could  more  truly  say  with  St.  Paul, 
*'  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  (or  by  ichich)  the  world  is  cru- 
cified unto  me  and  I  unto  the  world."  And  this  assuredly, 
in  all  its  parts,  is  the  state  of  mind  which  is  especially 
wanting  to  us,  to  give  more  effect  to  our  ministrations  ;  to 
draw  down  a  larger  measure  of  the  Divine  blessing  upon 
them.  May  He  with  whom  is  "the  residue  of  the  Spirit" 
indeed  raise  up  among  us  a  7ieio  race  of  such  "men  of 
God,"  by  whom  he  may  indeed  revive  his  church  wherever 
it  is  decayed,  reform  it  wherever  it  is  corrupted,  unite  it 
wherever  it  is  divided,  and  extend  it  wherever  it  is  not  yet 
planted  ;  that  "  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  may 
be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the 
rose." 

In  short,  the  great  charm  of  Luther's  character,  and  that 
from  which  the  other  excellences  admired  in  him,  even  by 
those  for  whom  this  may  have  less  attractions,  derived  their 
origin  or  their  support,  was  his  spirituality.  His  whole 
heart  and  soul  were  in  religion  ;  not  in  the  barren  noiiori  of 


200  CHARACTER    OF   LUTHER. 

its  truths,  or  in  its  mere  exterior  observances^  but  in  the 
communion  with  God  by  which  it  is  produced  and  cherished ; 
in  the  love  of  God  and  of  man,  in  the  "  righteousness  and 
peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  in  the  penitence,  the 
faith,  the  devotion,  the  deadness  to  the  world,  the  heavenly- 
mindedness,  in  which  it  consists  ;  and  in  all  the  practical 
fruits  of  righteousness  and  usefulness  which  it  brings  forth. 
The  reader  will  not  forget  his  correspondence  at  the  period 
especially  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  or  the  account  given 
by  his  companion  at  Coburg,  of  those  retired  devotions  by 
which  his  Christian  heroism  was  sustained.  He  will  recall 
to  mind  perhaps  the  manner  in  which  he  has  heard  Luther 
speak  of  his  daily  exercising  himself  on  the  common  truths 
of  the  catechism  :  and  he  will  not  be  displeased  to  receive 
the  further  testimony,  borne  to  his  devotional  spirit,  in  the 
oration  before  referred  to,  which  IVIelancthon  pronounced  at 
his  funeral.  "  Often  have  I  myself  gone  to  him  unawares, 
and  found  him  dissolved  in  tears  and  prayers  for  the  whole 
church  of  Christ.  He  commonly  devoted  a  portion  of  every 
day  to  the  solemn  recitation  of  some  of  the  Psalms  of  David, 
with  which  he  mingled  his  own  supplications,  with  sighs 
and  tears  :  and  often  has  he  declared,  that  he  could  not  help 
feeling  a  sort  of  indignation  at  those  who,  through  sloth, 
or  under  the  pretence  of  other  occupations,  hurried  over 
devotional  exercises,  or  contented  themselves  with  mere 
ejaculatory  prayer.  On  this  account,  he  said,  Divine  Wisdom 
has  prescribed  some  formularies  to  us,  that  our  minds  may 
be  inflamed  with  devotional  feeling  in  reading  them — to 
which,  in  his  opinion,  reading  aloud  very  much  conduced. 
When  therefore  a  variety  of  great  and  important  delibera- 
tions respecting  public  dangers  have  been  pending,  we  have 
witnessed  his  prodigious  vigour  of  mind,  his  fearless  and 
unshaken  courage.  Faith  was  his  sheet-anchor,  and,  by 
the  help  of  God,  he  was  resolved  never  to  be  driven  from  it." 
And  in  this  place  also  may  be  introduced  the  noble  appli- 
cation which  Bishop  Atterbury  has  made  to  him  of  a  sub- 
lime passage  of  St.  Paul's  writings.  It  is  in  his  defence 
of  Luther's  discontinuing  the  observance  of  the  *'  canonical 
hours,"  or  that  daily  repetition  of  forms  of  devotion  to  which 
the  Romish  ritual  obliges  the  clergy.  "  His  active  spirit," 
the  bishop  says,  "  was  employed  upon  things  more  accept- 
able to  God  Abnighty,  because  more  useful  to  mankind.    He 


CHARACTER    OF   LXTTHER.  201 

was  wrestling  against  principalities  and  powers,  against 
the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places.  To  this  end,  he  took  unto  him 
the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  he  might  he  able  to  withstand 
in  the  evil  day,  ayid,  having  done  all,  to  stand.  He  stood 
therefore,  having  his  loiyis  girded  about  with  truth,  and  having 
on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,  and  his  feet  shod  with  the 
preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace  ;  above  all  taking  the  shield 
of  faith,  wherewith  he  was  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts 
of  the  wicked.  And  he  took  the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  ichich  is  the  word  of  God  :  still  praying 
always  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit,  and 
watching  thereunto  with  all  perseverance,  and  supplication  for 
all  saints;  and  for  himself,  that  utterance  might  be  given 
unto  him,  that  he  might  open  his  mouth  boldly,  to  make  known 
the  mystery  of  the  gospel. — I  could  not  forbear,"  the  bishop 
declares,  "  setting  down  at  full  length  this  panoply  of  St. 
Paul,  wherewith  Luther  completely  armed  himself  in  his 
spiritual  warfare  :  and  I  do  not  know  whether  this  de- 
scription so  justly  belongs  to  any  man  as  to  him,  since  the 
days  of  the  apostles."* 

The  following  particulars  of  Luther's  manners  in  private 
life,  collected  by  Melchior  Adam,  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
the  reader. 

At  meal-times  he  frequently  dictated  sentiments  to  be  writ- 
ten down  by  others,  or  corrected  proof-sheets  of  his  works. 
Sometimes  he  entertained  himself  and  his  guests  with  music. 
When  invited  to  entertainments  he  frequently  did  not  go, 
that  he  might  not  waste  his  time  ;  and  he  often  complained 
that  it  was  esteemed  uncivil  to  decline  invitations,  while  yet  it 
was  injurious  to  accept  them.  When  he  wished  to  relax 
himself  from  study,  he  took  pleasure  in  playing  at  chess,  in 
which  he  was  very  skilful.  He  practised  also  the  art  of 
turning  ;  and  sometimes  threw  at  a  mark.  He  was  fond  of 
horticulture,  aud  collected  seeds  from  his  various  friends  for 
the  improvement  of  his  garden.  His  liberality  to  the  poor 
was  unbounded  and  almost  excessive.  When  a  student  on 
a  journey  once  solicited  assistance,  which  his  wife  declined, 
pleading  the  want  of  money,  Luther  took  up  a  silver  cup  a»i 

*  Answer  to  Considerations  on  the  Spirit  of  Luther,  &c.  p.  42. 


202  CHARACTER    OF    LUTHER. 

gave  it  to  him,  telling  him  to  sell  it  and  keep  the  money. 
On  another  occasion,  two  hundred  pieces  of  gold  having  been 
sent  him  from  the  mines,  he  distributed  the  whole  among  the 
poorer  scholars  at  Wittemberg.  When  the  Elector  John  once 
sent  him  a  present  of  clothing,  he  wrote  him  word  back  that 
it  was  "  more  than  he  wished  :  if  he  was  thus  to  receive  the 
reward  of  all  his  labours  in  this  life,  there  would  remain 
none  for  the  life  to  come,"  The  same  prince  having  offered 
him  a  share  in  some  mines,  he  declined  it,  lest  it  should 
become  a  snare  to  him.  He  mentions  also  that  he  took  no 
money  from  his  printers,  but  only  such  copies  of  his  books 
as  he  had  occasion  for,  and  those  but  few. — He  was  exceed- 
ingly affectionate  to  his  family,  and  took  great  care  of  their 
education,  keeping  a  tutor  in  the  house  to  instruct  them. 
When  he  saw  the  death  of  his  elder  daughter,  Magdalene, 
approaching, he  read  to  her  that  passage  of  Isaiah  xxvi.  "Thy 
dead  men  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body  shall  they 
arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust :  for  thy  dew 
is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead. 
Come,  my  people,  enter  thou  into  thy  chamber,  and  shut  thy 
doors  about  thee  ;  hide  thyself,  as  it  were,  for  a  little  mo- 
ment, until  the  indignation  be  overpassed."  He  then  said, 
"  My  daughter,  enter  thou  into  thy  resting-place  in  peace  :  I 
shall  soon  be  with  thee,  for  God  will  not  suffer  me  to  see  the 
evils  that  are  coming  upon  Germany."  Saying  this,  he  wept 
profusely :  but  at  the  funeral  he  so  restrained  himself  in 
public  as  not  to  shed  a  single  tear. 

In  person,  he  was  of  the  middle  size,  strongly  built.  His 
eye  was  brilliant  and  penetrating,  so  that  not  every  one  could 
bear  to  meet  its  full  gaze.  It  is  said  that  a  man,  once  sent 
to  assassinate  him,  was  so  overpowered  by  his  glance,  that 
he  hastily  retired  from  his  presence.  His  voice  was  neither 
powerful  nor  very  clear. 

He  lived  happily  in  the  married  state  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  His  widow  (who  survived  him  seven  years)  was  com- 
pelled by  the  wars  which  followed  her  husband's  death,  to 
lead,  in  some  degree,  a  wandering  life.  At  length,  on  being 
driven  from  Wittemberg  by  the  plague,  she  removed  to  Tor- 
gau  :  but  the  horses  taking  fright  by  the  way,  she  leaped 
from  the  carriage  in  which  she  was  travelling,  more  from 
anxiety  about  her  children  than  herself;  and  was  so  much 


SERVICES  OF  THE  REFORMERS.  203 

injured  by  her  fall  that  she  died  three  months  after,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two. 

The  following  sentences  are  quoted  from  him  by  the  same 
biographer. 

"As  the  fruit  never  produces  the  tree,  so  works  never 
make  the  man  good.  The  tree  must  first  be  produced,  and 
then  the  fruit  follows  :  so  a  man  being  first  made  good,  good 
works  follow — not  to  make  him  good,  but  to  testify  that  he 
is  good." 

On  temptations,  particularly,  we  must  suppose,  those  of 
blasphemous  thoughts,  he  advises,  "First,  that  the  tempted 
should  avoid  solitude,  and  should  converse  with  others  on 
passages  of  the  Psalms,  and  other  parts  of  Scripture  :  then, 
as  a  very  effectual  remedy,  though  one  difficult  to  be  applied, 
that  they  should  persuade  themselves  that  the  thoughts  which 
harass  them  are  not  their  own,  but  Satan's,  and  so  not 
attempt  to  reason  with  them  and  overcome  them,  but  turn 
away  from  them,  and  apply  their  minds  to  something  else  ; 
for  to  do  otherwise  would  only  exasperate  the  evil  to  a  dan- 
gerous degree." 

I  would  in  conclusion  add  an  observation  on  the  real  na- 
ture of  our  obligations  to  the  blessed  and  venerable  reformers 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  reader  will  not  be  surprised 
at  my  expressing  an  utter  disapprobation  of  all  such  senti- 
ments as  the  following  :  "  That  the  reformers  are  to  be  hon- 
oured chiefly  for  the  grand  principles  of  Christian  liberty 
which  they  so  strenuously  asserted  and  maintained — the  de- 
tail of  doctrine  and  practice  will  always  occasion  difference 
of  opinion  :  that  they  were  too  tenacious  of  their  particular 
creed — but  that  this  period  was  only  the  dawn  of  religious 
discovery."  All  this  is  catering  most  ofl^ensively  to  the  cor- 
rupt taste  of  a  lukewarm  and  latitudinarian  age.  I  trust  I 
honour  the  reformers,  as  much  as  any  man  can  do,  for  "  stren- 
uously asserting  and  maintaining  in  the  face  of  the  most 
powerful  opponents" — so  far  as  they  really  did  assert  and 
maintain  them — "  the  grand  principles  of  Christian  liberty  :" 
but  I  conceive  that  they  did  this,  to  say  the  least,  not  at  all 
more  perfectly  than  they,  "  asserted  and  maintained,"  and 
brought  forward  into  open  day,  "  the  grand  principles  of 
Christian"  truth  :  that,  as  far  as  they  succeeded,  they  were 


204  SERVICES    OF    THE    REFORMERS. 

"  the  restorers  of  light'*''* — the  pure  light  of  the  gospel — not 
at  all  less  than  of  "  liberty,"  to  the  Christian  church,  which 
had  for  ages  been  "  sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death." — "  The  detail  of  doctrine  and  practice  will,"  no 
doubt,  "  always,"  while  the  state  of  mankind  continues  what 
it  is,  "  occasion  difference  of  opinion  :"  but  we  are  not  on 
this  ground  to  be  left  to  conclude  that  truth,  even  on  the  most 
essential  points,  cannot  be  ascertained.  There  has  been  un- 
speakably less  difference  of  opinion  in  such  matters,  among 
really  good  men  in  all  ages,  than  is  commonly  supposed. 
No  doubt  also  the  reformers  might  be  "  too  tenacious  of  their 
particular  creed,  and,"  in  some  cases,  "  inconsistent  with 
themselves  :"  but  let  us  not,  under  the  cover  of  positions 
which  none  can  deny,  as  applied  to  minor  parts  of  the 
reformers'  system,  be  led  to  conclusions  which  none  should 
admit  concerning  the  great  outlines  of  their  doctrine. — And 
with  extreme  caution  is  the  suspicious  statement  to  be  re- 
ceived, of  "  this  period  being  only  the  dawn  of  religious  dis- 
covery." Let  no  inexperienced  reader  ever  suppose,  that 
religious  truth  can  be  the  subject  of  "  discovery,"  in  any 
such  sense  as  latent  principles  or  hitherto  unobserved  phe- 
nomena in  chymistry  or  in  geology  may  be;  or  that  one  age 
can  improve  upon  the  theological  science  of  another  pre- 
ceding it,  any  otherwise  than  by  returning  to  the  more  sim- 
ple and  more  unreserved  reception  of  the  unerring  disclo- 
sures, which  were  completed  to  the  Christian  church  in  its 
very  infancy,  in  the  only  source  of  all  religious  knowledge 
—"the  oracles  of  god."  And,  in  the  "  discovery"  an  J 
exhibition  of  all  the  leading  principles  of  these  repositories 
of  Divine  wisdom,  I  am  persuaded  no  class  of  teachers  has 
surpassed  the  great  luminaries  of  the  reformation.  Yes,  it 
is  upon  this  ground  above  all  others- -by  their  having  asserted 
to  the  sacred  writings,  as  they  did,  that  sole  and  exclusive 
authority  which  is  their  inalienable  right,  and  having  deduced 
from  them  all  the  great  truths  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion 
— that  the  reformers  have  established  a  claim  to  our  eternal 
gratitude.  "  These  men  were  the  servants  of  the  most  high 
God,  showing  unto  us" — after  it  had  been  obscured  and 
almost  lost  for  ages — "  the  way  of  salvation."!     Yes, 

*  Robertson . 

t  "  By  Luiher  and  his  fellow-labourers,"  says  Melchlor  Adam,  "  God 
brought  to  light  to  his  church  those  most  essential  doctrines  which  respect 


Luther's  last  writings.  205 

"  Their  blood  was  shed 
In  confirmation  of  the  noblest  claim, 
Our  claim  to  feed  upon  immdrtal  truth, 
To  walk  with  God,  to  be  divinely  free, 
To  soar,  and  to  anticipate  the  skies." 

We  have  given  some  account  of  the  writings  of  Luther 
as  far  as  the  end  of  the  year  1541.  His  principal  publica- 
tions in  1542,  in  addition  to  some  already  mentioned,  were 
a  commentary  on  the  prophet  Micah  ;  a  translation  into 
German,  with  a  preface  and  notes,  of  a  work  of  Richard  the 
Dominican  (a  writer  whom  he  supposes  to  have  lived  early 
in  the  fourteenth  century)  on  the  Koran  ;  and  prefaces  to 
an  epitome  of  the  Conformities  of  St.  Francis,  and  to  the 
postils  of  John  Spangenberg,  subsequently  superintendent 
of  Mansfeldt. 

The  work  of  Richard  had  excited  his  curiosity  concerning 
the  Koran.  He  could  not  for  some  time  believe  that  rational 
beings  could  be  found  to  receive  propositions  so  monstrous 
as  it  professed  to  exhibit  from  the  Koran  :  but  he  had  since 
obtained  a  Latin  translation  of  the  work  of  the  Arabian 
impostor,  and  had  found  that  there  was  no  fiction  in 
Richard's  charges.  He  wished  therefore  to  make  them 
known  to  his  countrymen,  at  a  time  when  the  Mahometans 
were  so  much  spreading  their  conquests,  and  with  them  their 


the  Mediator,  the  way  of  justification,  the  difference  between  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  the  nature  of  acceptable  worship,  and  other  subjects  of  vital 
importance." — He  then  quotes  the  Ibllowing  testimony  of  Melancthon  con- 
cerning Luther.  "  He  often  bewailed  the  impious  addresses  made  to  de- 
parted saints,  and  said,  For  various  reasons  such  a  profane  practice  is  to 
be  execrated,  but  especially  because  it  obscures  the  evidence  of  the  deity 
of  Christ,  arising  from  the  divine  honours  which  we  are  taught  to  pay| 
to  him,  in  the  scriptures  both  of  the  prophets  and  the  apostles.  This  is 
the  idolatry  which  whets  the  scimitars  of  the  Turks  against  us  :  nor  will 
our  blood  cease  to  be  shed  by  them,  unless  a  pious  relbrmation  be  made. 
Who  can  deny  the  gross  impiety  of  such  sentences  as  these,  which  are 
constantly  heard  in  the  papal  churches  : 

'  O  Mary,  mother  of  grace. 
Defend  us  from  the  enemy  ! 
Receive  us  in  the  hour  of  death '.' 
And  again : 

'  O  Saint  Dorothy,  create  in  me  a  clean  heart ! 

«  O  Saint  Catharine,  remove  us  from  the  troubles  of  this  world  to  the 

bliss  of  paradise  I    Open  to  us  the  gates  of  paradise  I' "—Is  not  this  justly 

styled  the  idolatry  of  popery— withdrawn  from  view  perhaps  in  such  a 

country  as  our  own,  but  still  retained  where  the  public  mind  will  bear  it  ? 

Vol.  IL— S 


206  Luther's  writings. 

reliorion  in  Europe.    He  takes  occasion  therefore  to  introdace 
many  admonitions  and  addresses  suitable  to  the  times. 

The  Conformities  of  St.  Francis  he  wished  to  keep  before 
the  public  eye,  that  it  might  not  be  forgotten  what  things 
had  really  been  taught  under  the  papacy.  Many  now  affected 
to  disbeUeve  that  such  things  had  actually  been  written  and 
received  ;  many  were  found  to  soften  them  down  or  varnish 
them  over,  especially  in  the  diets  :*  not  that  the  papists  had 
renounced  them  ;  they  only  kept  them  in  the  background, 
to  reproduce  them  at  a  more  favourable  opportunity  ;  and 
we  may  easily,  says  Luther,  relapse  into  them,  if  we  prove 
ungrateful  for  the  benefits  conferred  upon  us,  and  thus  pro- 
voke God  to  withdraw  his  grace  from  us. 

In  his  preface  to  Spangenberg,  he  dwells  at  some  length 

on  the  term  "  mystery,"  applied  by  St.  Paul  to  the  gospel, 

and  particularly  (Eph.  v.)  to  the  union  between  Christ  and 

the  church.     When  he  first  set  out,  he  says,  "  he  thought 

that  he  well  understood  all  this,  as  many  other  smatterers 

now  did  ;  but  when  he  had  made  some  little  progress,  he 

found  that  it  was  indeed  a  mystery,  which  too  much  pains 

could  not  be  taken  to  understand  and  unfold."     He  laments 

however  that  many  wrote,  "  not  to  make  known  this  mystery, 

but  that  their  own  fine  thoughts  might  not  be  lost :  and  they 

then  set  both  themselves  and  their  books  to  sale.     But  such 

men  would  never  effect  any  thing  in  the  church  of  God." 

On  the  contrary,  he  reprehends  idle  preachers,  who  contented 

k   themselves  with  "  repeating,  like  parrots  and  jackdaws,  only 

1   what  others  had  written."     Men  could  not,  he  maintains, 

\too  diligently  study  the  Scriptures,  too  earnestly  teach  what 

■  they  learned    from  them,    or  too   carefully  illustrate  what 

I  they  taught  by  their  own  life  and  conversation. 

i^    The  next  year  Luther  engaged  in  the  controversy  against 

/  the  Jews.      When  it  became  known  that  Hebrew  studies 

>'     were  cultivated  at  ¥/ittemberg,  it  gave  spirits  to  the  men> 

j       bers  of  the  Jewish  communion  ;  which  were  further  raised 

\      hf  some  of  the  German  fanatics  embracing  their  profession. 

\      In  consequence,  three  of  their  learned  men  came  to  dispute 

with  Luther.     He  treated  them  kindly  till  he  found  their 

obstinacy  and  virulence ;    and   then    he   wrote  with  some 

severity  "  Against   the  Jews   and   their   falsehoods."     He. 

*  As  latterly  in  tlie  houses  of  Lords  and  Commons. 


ltither's  last  writings.  207 

thinks  it  useless  to  discuss  the  Christian  mysteries  with  them, 
their  prejudice  and  hardness  are  so  great :  he  would  rather 
employ  arguments  against  them  drawn  from  their  circum- 
stances during  fifteen  hundred  years  past,  which  were  such 
as  had  been  predicted  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  evidently  showed 
the  anger  of  God  resting  upon  them.  Their  boasted  privi- 
leges and  distinctions  were  to  be  treated  as  worthless,  when 
separated  from  faith  and  piety.  Nothing  was  to  be  expected 
from  them,  till,  softened  by  their  calamities,  they  should  listen 
to  the  proofs  drawn  from  their  own  prophets  that  the  Mes- 
siah was  come. 

Among  the  minor  writings  of  Luther  at  this  period,  a  pre- 
face may  deserve  to  be  mentioned  which  he  prefixed  to  some 
Latin  declamations  composed  and  delivered  by  the  elector's 
sons,  boys  of  thirteen  and  fourteen  years  of  age.  Luther 
here  expresses  great  joy  at  the  progress  of  learning,  (so 
different  from  what  had  been  under  the  papacy  !)  at  the 
elector's  manner  of  training  his  sons,  and  at  the  good  hopes 
which  they  afforded  him  ;  and  concludes  with  offering  fervent 
prayers  for  them,  and  for  others  of  their  rank,  adapted  par- 
ticularly to  the  times  in  which  their  lot  was  cast.  It  is  a 
pleasing  spectacle  which  this  little  publication  presents  to 
us,  both  of  the  elector's  family,  and  of  the  regard  which 
Luther  bore  to  them. 

In  the  year  1544,  Luther  published  again  on  the  Eucharist, 
treating  the  Zwinglians  with  lamentable  severity. 

A  letter  of  Luther's  to  Spalatinus,  prefixed  as  a  preface 
to  a  collection  which  that  worthy  person  had  made  of  the 
examples  and  sayings  of  pious  men,  contains  many  excel- 
lent sentiments.  "  I  am  much  pleased,  my  dear  Spalatinus, 
with  your  design  of  collecting  the  acts  and  sayings  of  the 
saints  of  God  ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  it  will  be  acceptable  to 
God  himself,  and  to  the  people  of  God.  Things  of  this 
kind  tend  not  only  to  stop  the  mouths  of  those  who  reproach 
us  as  introducing  new  doctrines,  but  also  to  confirm  our  own 
minds  by  the  testimony  of  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
who  have  thought,  and  spoken,  and  acted,  and  suffered 
in  the  same  manner  with  ourselves.  For,  though  each 
one's  own  faith  in  the  Word  of  God  ought  to  support  his 
resolution  of  standing,  though  it  were  alone,  in  the  conflict 
against  the  gates  of  hell,  yet  even  when  the  spirit  is  willing 
the  fleah  is  weak  ;  and  therefore  it  is  a  great  confirmation 


208  Luther's  last  writings. 

to  the  pious  mind  to  trace  in  so  many  excellent  men, 
through  successive  ages,  the  same  things  as  it  meets  with 
in  its  own  daily  experience.  Even  by  the  best  of  men, 
indeed,  there  have  been  many  things  said  and  done  under 
the  influence  of  the  flesh,  and  the  law  of  sin  warring  against 
the  law  of  the  mind,  according  to  what  we  read  in  Romans 
vii.,  to  say  nothing  of  the  falsehoods  which  have  been  foisted 
into  their  histories  by  the  children  of  the  wicked  one  ;  yet, 
when  the  confession  of  sin  and  the  struggle  against  it  are- 
concerned,  we  see  how  purely  and  constantly  they  avow 
their  faith.  What  could  have  been  said  more  pious  or  more 
becoming  in  St.  Ambrose,  than  when,  in  his  last  conflict 
against  sin,  death,  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  threats  of 
hell,  he  boldly  pronounced  to  the  presbyters  who  stood  about 
him,  '  I  have  not  so  lived  as  to  be  ashamed  to  continue 
among  you  ;  nor  do  I  fear  to  die,  since  we  serve  a  gracious 
Master.'  St.  Augustine,  in  his  last  agony,  as  Possidonius 
relates,  highly  commended  this  sentiment  of  Ambrose. 
The  same  Augustine  also  comforted  himself  against  the 
charges  of  conscience  (the  source  of  severest  trial  in  the 
hour  of  death)  in  the  following  words,  '  I  shall  be  troubled, 
but  not  distressed,  because  I  think  on  the  sufferings  of  my 
Saviour.'  Who  does  not  see,  that  in  sentences  like  these 
the  most  holy  men  declare  their  faith  in  Christ,  a  faith  sole 
and  exclusive,  yet  firm  and  victorious  over  sin  and  death? 
For,  though  they  judge  their  life  to  be  irreproachable  among 
men  (as  it  ought  to  be,  and  must  be),  yet  before  God  they 
rely  entirely  on  his  mercy  and  grace,  and  fly  to  the  wounds 
of  Christ,  as  the  doves  to  the  clefts  of  the  rock. — We  do 
well,  therefore,  first  to  separate  the  histories  of  the  saints 
from  the  falsehoods  with  which  they  have  been  mixed  up, 
and  then,  rightly  dividing  the  Word  of  Truth,  to  try  them 
by  the  rule  and  analogy  of  faith — according  to  the  apostolic 
direction.  Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good. 
But  what  room  would  there  be  for  this  admonition,  if  all 
that  was  said  and  done  by  the  saints  were  to  be  received 
implicitly,  like  articles  of  faith  1  No  ;  they  were  holy  men, 
but  yet  mc7i,  in  whom  Divine  grace  had  still  to  struggle 
against  corrupt  nature.  Where,  therefore,  they  spoke  and 
acted  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  their  sayings  and 
actions  are  worthy  to  be  preserved,  as  what  the  Lord  Christ 
wrought  in  them  ;  but,  where  the  contrary,  there  we  are  to 


Luther's  last  writings.  209 

bear  with  them,  and  consider  this  as  permitted  for  our  en- 
couragement, since  we  see  that  the  saints  of  God  were  infirm 
beings  hke  ourselves,  and  each  one  of  them  bore  about  with 
him  in  his  flesh  the  remains  of  sin. — On  these  accounts  I 
wish  your  book  to  be  published  ;  but  do  not  bestow  upon 
me  such  lavish — if  I  did  not  know  your  sincerity,  I  should 
say  such  false — commendation.  I  know  that  I  am  nothing. 
Farewell  in  the  Lord  !  Pray  for  me  that  I  may  have  a  happy 
transition  from  this  body  of  sin  and  death !  Amen. 
8  March,  1544." 

George  Heltus  of  Forcheim  has  been  mentioned  as  the 
preceptor  of  Prince  George  of  Anhalt  and  other  eminent 
persons.  We  will  here  insert  part  of  a  letter  from  Luther  to 
George  of  Anhalt  on  his  death.     It  is  dated  March  9,  1545. 

"  Grace  and  peace  to  you  in  Christ !  So  then,  most 
illustrious  prince,  our  friend  Heltus  is  gone,  leaving  us  to 
lament  him  !  0  my  God,  at  a  time  when  we  have  need 
of  many  holy  men  to  comfort  and  strengthen  us  by  their 
prayers,  their  counsels,  and  their  assistance,  thou  takest 
away  even  the  few  that  are  left  us !  We  know,  O  God, 
that  the  prayers  and  the  labours  of  the  departed  saint,  who 
most  ardently  loved  and  zealously  served  thy  Son,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  was  most  useful  to  thy  church,  were 
well-pleasing  in  thy  sight. — Certainly  I  myself  placed  great 
confidence  in  his  prayers,  and  derived  great  consolation 
from  them.  How  severe  a  wound  then  must  you  have 
suffered,  most  excellent  prince,  by  the  removal  of  one  with 
whom  you  lived  on  terms  of  such  faithful  and  endeared 
friendship.  But  it  is  well  with  him.  Gathered  to  his 
fathers  and  to  his  people,  he  finds  more  and  better  com- 
panions there  than  he  has  left  behind.  But  our  lot  is  try- 
ing, who  live,  or  drag  on  a  sort  of  dying  existence,  here  in 
Sodom  and  Babylon,  and  find  the  number  of  good  men 
diminish  in  proportion  as  the  state  of  things,  daily  declining 
towards  what  is  worse,  requires  an  increase  of  them.  But 
the  wisdom  of  God  is  to  be  adored,  who,  when  he  is  about 
to  accomplish  something  great,  and  surpassing  our  hopes, 
first  seems  to  annihilate  all  expectation,  and  to  reduce  us 
to  despair;  as  it  is  written,  'He  bringeth  down  to  the 
grave,  and  bringeth  up  again.'  He  does  this  to  teach  us 
the  exercise  of  faith,  hope,  and  love  towards  him  ;  and  that 
we  may  learn  to  esteem  things  not  seen  above  those  which 
S2 


810  Luther's  last  writings. 

do  appear  ;  and  '  against  hope  to  believe  in  hope  ;'  and  to 
depend  on  him  who  '  calleth  things  which  are  not  as  though 
they  were.'  Then,  while  he  takes  away  from  us  all  his 
most  pleasant  gifts,  and  exhibits  himself  to  us  as  if  his 
kindness  and  his  loveliness  had  come  utterly  to  an  end,  at 
that  very  time  he  is  thinking  most  especially,  I  might  almost 
say  anxiously,  the  thoughts  of  love  towards  us.  By  means 
like  these  it  is  that  the  old  man  is  slain,  '  the  body  of  sin 
destroyed.' — Wherefore  comfort  yourself,  most  excellent 
prince,  according  to  the  rich  measure  in  which  it  has  been 
given  you  to  know  God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  to  meditate  on  all  the  operations  of  his 
hands.  It  shall  be  my  prayer,  that  the  God  of  all  consola- 
tion would  confirm  and  strengthen  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
until  the  appointed  end  of  these  trials  is  accomplished.  For, 
as  it  is  said  in  Jeremiah,  'He  doth  not  willingly  grieve  the 
children  of  men.'  And  Augustine  says,  *  God  would  not 
permit  evil  to  exist,  if  he  had  not  some  greater  good  to 
bring  out  of  it.' — We  are  yet  in  the  flesh,  and  know  not 
what  to  ask  or  how  to  ask  it ;  that  is,  to  ask  what  is  good 
for  us  ;  but  He  who  is  able  to  do  above  all  we  ask  or  think 
•  careth  for  us  ;'  he  can  do  for  us  beyond  what  the  narrow- 
ness of  our  hearts  allows  us  to  desire,  or  even  to  imagine. 
But  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  his  doing  this,  that  he  should 
first  take  from  us  those  things  which  we  think  we  cannot  do 
without ;  or  at  least  think  that  their  absence  would  occasion 
us  great  injury  or  great  danger.  Scripture  abounds  with 
examples  to  this  effect.  Adam  and  Eve  were  almost  intox- 
icated with  high  expectations  from  Cain ;  God  deprived 
them  of  both  their  sons,  and  almost  reduced  them  to  de- 
spair ;  but  then  He  that  quickeneth  the  dead,  and  createth 
all  things  out  of  nothing,  gave  them  '  another  seed,'  and  an 
unfailing  postfrity.  Abraham  promised  himself  great  things 
from  Ishmael,  Isaac  from  Esau,  Jacob  from  Reuben,  his 
first-born  ;  but  all  these  hopes  must  receive  a  death-blow, 
that  new  and  immortal  hopes  might  take  their  place.  God 
is  mighty  and  faithful ;  he  promises  and  he  performs. — Let 
us  bewail  our  departed  friend  then  because  '  his  light  is  lost,' 
as  the  son  of  Sirach  says,  yet  not  to  himself,  but  to  us. 
To  him  his  light  burns  more  brightly,  and  shall  burn  for 
ever.  Soon,  too,  our  light  shall  fail  here,  but  be  rekindled 
and  perfected  in  that  better  state,  through  him  who  is  at 


LUTHER  S   LAST   WRITINGS.  211 

once  our  Light  and  our  Life.  Amen  !  In  Him  may  your 
highness  ever  fare  well !" 

We  may  remark  from  this  letter,  as  from  many  other 
passages  of  his  writings,  how  much  Luther's  distinguishing 
excellences,  his  faith,  his  wisdom,  his  fervour,  his  heroism, 
the  richness  of  his  instructions,  were  derived  from  his  being 
so  intimately  conversant  with  every  part  of  Scripture.  He 
read  it  daily,  and  most  diligently.  In  all  its  contents  it  was 
continually  passing  in  review  before  him. 

The  most  elaborate  work  of  Luther,  published  in  the  year 
1545,  was  a  Commentary  on  the  prophet  Hosea.  In  this  he 
points  out  how  great  a  proportion  of  the  messages  of  the 
prophets  are  easily  applicable  to  our  own  times  ;  exposes 
the  false  candour  of  leaving  the  papists  unmolested  in  their 
errors,  and  throughout  makes  powerful  attacks  upon  them. 

The  elector  and  the  landgrave  both  scrupulously  ab- 
stained from  checking  the  reformer  in  what  he  thought 
proper  to  write  and  publish  ;  so  high  an  opinion  did  they 
entertain  of  his  wisdom,  and  of  the  effect  of  his  writings. 
Even  when  King  Ferdinand,  having  read  his  book  "  Against 
the  Pope,"  published  this  year,  observed  that,  "  if  the  lan- 
guage were  but  softened,  it  was  not  in  other  respects  to  be 
found  fault  with  ;"  the  elector  replied,  "  Dr.  Martin  is  a 
man  of  a  singular  spirit,  which  suffers  not  itself  to  be  re- 
strained in  these  matters.  No  doubt  he  has  weighty  rea- 
sons for  this  strong  language.  He  is  stirred  up  in  an  ex- 
traordinary manner  against  the  papacy,  to  overthrow  it,  not 
to  amend  it— for  that  is  impossible.  Mild  language,  there- 
fore, would  be  out  of  place." — When  the  ofFensiveness  of  a 
picture  prefixed  to  the  book  was  further  represented,  the 
elector  still  replied,  that  "  Luther's  spirit  was  extraordinary, 
and  that  he  had  further  views  in  the  particular  means  he 
employed  than  all  could  penetrate ;  on  which  account 
neither  his  (the  elector's)  father,  John,  nor  his  uncle  Fred- 
eric, would  at  all  prescribe  to  him  ;  nor  would  he  himself 
presume  to  do  it." — Though  certainly  it  is  to  be  wished, 
for  the  sake  of  posterity  at  least,  and  I  conceive  also  for  the 
sake  of  his  own  contemporaries,  that  Luther  had  moderated 
his  style,  yet  the  wisdom  and  forbearance  of  the  three 
electors  in  not  venturing  out  of  their  proper  province,  to 
direct,  or  even  to  regulate,  the  movements  of  their  subject — 
an  extraordinary  man  evidently  raised  up  for  an  extraor- 


212  Luther's  last  writings. 

dinary  service — are  greatly  to  be  admired ;  and  we  know 
not  how  much  they  might  have  marred  the  work,  had  they 
attempted  to  do  otherwise. 

This  year  Lutheor  wrote  the  preface  to  the  first  volume 
of  his  collected  works.  An  interesting  and  important  ex- 
tract from  it  has  been  given  in  an  early  part  of  our  history.* 
We  shall  here  add  a  few  sentences,  which  conspire  with 
many  other  passages  in  his  various  compositions  to  show 
the  very  modest  estimate  which  he  formed  of  his  own 
writings.  "  I  long  and  stoutly  held  out,"  he  says,  "  against 
those  who  wished  to  have  my  books,  or  rather  the  confused 
mass  of  my  lucubrations,  collected  and  published  together. 
I  opposed  this,  both  because  I  would  not  have  attention 
drawn  off  from  ancient  writers  by  my  new  publications,  and 
because  now,  through  the  grace  of  God,  there  exist  many 
orderly  works,  particularly  the  Commonplaces  of  Melanc- 
thon,  by  which  the  divine  and  the  pastor  of  the  church 
may  be  thoroughly  furnished,  especially  since  the  Sacred 
Writings  themselves  may  now  be  had  in  almost  every  lan- 
guage ;  while  my  compositions,  prompted  and  even  com- 
pelled by  the  course  of  events,  are  a  sort  of  rude  and  un- 
digested chaos,  which  I  myself  can  hardly  reduce  to  any 
order."  He  had  wished  them,  therefore,  "  to  sink  into  ob- 
livion, and  to  give  way  to  somewhat  better."  He  was 
obliged,  however,  to  yield  to  the  importunities  of  his  friends 
(who  urged  that,  if  he  did  not  collect  and  arrange  them, 
some  would  attempt  it  after  his  death,  who  knew  not  the 
circumstances  and  occasions  of  the  several  pieces),  as  well 
as  to  the  pleasure  and  commands  of  the  elector. — Then 
follows  the  passage  already  given,  in  which  he  entreats  the 
reader  to  peruse  his  writings  "  with  discrimination,  and  even 
with  great  compassion,"  considering  what  an  infatuated 
papist  he  had  originally  been,  and  with  what  difficulty  he 
had  surmounted  his  prejudices. 

In  like  manner  he  says,  in  the  preface  to  his  Commen- 
tary on  the  book  of  Genesis,  "  I  am  not  one  who  can  be 
said  to  have  accomplished  what  he  aimed  at,  or  even  to 
have  made  an  approach  towards  the  accomplishment  of  it  ; 
I  must  take  my  station  in  the  last  and  lowest  rank,  as  one 
^ho  scarcely  dares  to  say,  '  I  desired  to  accomplish  it.'     I 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  46. 


Luther's  last  writings.  213 

speak  every  thing  extemporaneously,  and  in  a  style'adapted 
to  the  comnioa  people.  Not  that  I  am  conscious  of  having 
spoken  what  is  false ;  but  I  have  aimed  only  at  avoiding 
obscurity,  and  at  making  myself  fully  understood." 

From  the  coincidence  of  the  subject,  I  shall  take  occasion 
here  to  insert  a  letter  of  his  to  Brentius,  Pastor  of  Halle, 
in  Suabia,  though  written  at  an  earlier  period — 1530.  It 
well  deserves  to  be  read  for  the  fine  spirit  which  it  breathes, 
and  for  the  answer  which  it  furnishes  to  the  charges  of  arro- 
gance, to  which  Luther's  bold  and  uncompi;omising  oppo- 
sition to  every  thing  that  he  conceived  to  be  a  corruption 
of  divine  truth  exposed  him.  It  accompanied  or  was  pre- 
fixed to  Brentius's  Commentary  on  the  Prophet  Amos. 

"  Grace  and  peace  to  you  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord !  I 
return  you,  my  dear  friend,  your  Amos,  which  you  sent  me 
long  ago.  It  is  not  my  fault  that  it  has  not  been  published 
sooner,  but  that  of  the  person  to  whom  you  intrusted  it. 
In  the  humility  of  your  heart  you  submitted  your  work 
entirely  to  my  judgment,  that  I  should  alter,  add,  expunge, 
at  my  pleasure  ;  but  far  be  it  from  me  to  do  any  thing  of 
the  kind.  It  is  in  no  case  very  creditable  to  exercise  one's 
ingenuity  in  working  upon  another  man's  foundation  ;  and, 
among  Christians,  it  would  be  intolerable  for  one  man  to 
set  up  for  master  over  others  who  are  taught  by  the  same 
Spirit.  It  is  enough  '  to  prove  the  spirits  whether  they  are 
of  God ;'  and,  that  being  once  ascertained,  we  ought 
instantly  to  show  reverence,  to  lay  aside  all  magisterial 
airs,  and  humbly  to  sit  down  as  scholars  ;  for  it  is  impos- 
sible for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  speak,  without  delivering  truths 
before  which  every  man  should  bow,  and  receive  them  with 
childlike  simplicity. 

"  But,  besides  this  general  deference  to  what  the  Spirit 
teaches,  I  declare  to  you  that  my  own  writings  are  very 
mean  in  my  eyes,  when  compared  with  yours,  and  those 
of  men  like  you.  I  do  not  here  flatter  you,  or  put  on  an 
assumed  humility.  I  am  not  praising  Brentius,  but  the 
spirit  with  which  he  is  endued,  and  which  shows  itself  in 
him  much  more  mild,  gentle,  and  calm  than  in  me.  Then, 
also,  your  composition  is  much  more  skilful  than  mine  ; 
your  language  flows  much  more  pure,  clear,  and  neat ;  and 
thus  is  more  attractive  and  more  eiRcient.  My  manner  is 
to  pour  forth  a  torrent  and  chaos  of  words. — Moreover,  it  is 


214  Luther's  last  writings. 

my  destiny  to  be  engaged  in  an  endless  succession  of  fierce 
eonflicts  with  monsters  that  baffle  description  ;  so  that  if  it 
be  allowable  to  use  such  a  comparison,  I  seem  to  resemble 
the  fire  and  the  blustering  wind  in  Elijah's  vision,  while  you 
and  your  associates  are  the  '  still  small  voice' — a  gentle  air 
which  refreshes,  and  softens,  and  unbinds.  Your  writings, 
therefore,  please  me,  and  much  more  will  they  please 
others,  better  than  my  own.  I  comfort  myself,  however, 
with  this  thought,  that  the  great  heavenly  Lord  and  Father, 
in  the  amplitude  of  his  household,  has  work  for  servants 
of  different  descriptions,  and  some  must  be  like  hard  wedges 
to  cleave  rugged  blocks.  God  must  appear  in  thunder,  as 
well  as  in  the  gentle  rain  :  by  his  lightning  and  thunder  he 
agitates  and  purifies  the  air,  and  thus  prepares  for  render- 
ing the  earth  more  richly  fruitful. 

"  But  I  especially  admire  in  you  this  gift  of  God,  that  in 
all  your  writings  you  so  faithfully  and  clearly  set  forth  '  the 
righteousness  of  faith  :'  for  this  is  the  head  corner-stone 
which  supports,  nay,  gives  existence  and  life  to  the  church 
of  God ;  so  that  without  it  the  church  cannot  subsist  for  an 
hour.  No  one  can  teach  rightly  in  the  church,  nor  success- 
fully withstand  any  of  her  enemies,  who  does  not  hold  fast 
the  sound  doctrine  on  this  head.  I  have  often  felt  a  mix- 
ture of  surprise  and  indignation,  that  such  men  as  Jerome 
and  Origen  should  have  been  considered  as,  next  to  the 
apostles,  master-builders  in  the  church  ;  when  you  can 
scarcely  find  three  sentences  in  either  of  them  setting  forth 
this  doctrine.  Nor  would  the  case  have  been  different  with 
Augustine,  but  for  his  controversies  with  the  Pelagians. 
They  compelled  him  to  maintain  the  righteousness  of  faith. 
Thus  he  became  a  true  father  of  the  church ;  and  almost 
the  only  one  after  the  apostles  and  its  first  founders.  Not 
that  I  would  undervalue  '  the  fathers  ;'  but  I  think  all 
ought  to  be  admonished  to  read  their  writings  with  a  dis- 
criminating judgment — according  to  the  rule,  'prove  all 
things.'  Those  who  read  them  otherwise  are  tossed  about 
with  the  winds  of  uncertainty  ;  '  ever  learning,  and  never 
able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.'  This  we  our- 
selves experienced,  till  the  grace  of  God  guided  us  from  the 
troubled  sea  into  a  safe  harbour,  and  set  our  feet  upon  this 
sure  rock. — Go  on  then,  my  friend,  strenuously  asserting 
this  truth  on  every  occasion,  and  even  to  the  satiety  of 


Luther's  last  writings.  215 

many  ;  for  the  world  is  full  of  writers  and  declaimers  who 
neglect  it,  or  persecute  it,  or  corrupt  it.  And  no  wonder ; 
for  this  it  is  which  is  to  crush  the  serpent's  head.  Satan 
therefore  cannot  fail  to  direct  his  opposition  against  it." 

To  the  last  year  of  Luther's  life  are  to  be  referred  his 
commentaries  on  the  prophecies  of  Joel,  and  on  the  book 
of  Genesis.  He  had  delivered  a  previous  exposition  of  Joel, 
about  the  year  1536  :  but  the  latter  was  more  full  and  com- 
plete. His  exposition  of  Genesis  forms  of  itself  an  immense 
folio  volume.  Like  most  of  his  other  expositions,  it  was 
delivered  in  lectures,  and  not  intended  for  publication,  but 
was  taken  down  by  Cruciger,  Rorarius,  and  Vitus  Theo- 
dorus,  and  submitted  to  Luther's  correction.  It  was  begun 
in  the  year  1536,  and  not  finished  till  November,  1545, 
within  three  months  of  the  author's  death.  It  was  pub- 
lished in  parts,  to  the  first  of  which  Luther  himself  wrote 
the  preface,  an  extract  from  which  has  already  been  given. 
He  says  further,  "  I  entered  upon  my  lectures  on  Genesis 
with  no  view  to  their  publication,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the 
students,  and  that  I  might  keep  the  minds  both  of  myself 
and  of  my  audience  exercised  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and 
might  not  spend  my  old  age  in  sloth  and  uselessness.  1 
was  excited  by  the  words  of  the  Psalm,  '  I  will  sing  unto 
the  Lord  while  I  have  any  being.'  "  He  dwells  repeatedly 
on  the  subsequent  inspired  writers  having  drawn  so  much 
from  the  books  of  Moses,  and  recommends  this  to  be  stu- 
diously traced.  The  book  of  Genesis  he  speaks  of  as  a 
very  delightful  one,  and  prays  God  to  raise  up  persons  to  do 
more  justice  to  it  than  he  could  do.  "  I  can  accomplish  no 
more,"  he  said,  as  he  closed  his  exposition,  "  I  am  infirm ; 
pray  that  God  would  grant  me  a  happy  dismissal !"  He 
often  said,  that  he  could  wish  to  end  his  life  with  the  expo- 
sition of  the  book  of  Genesis  :  and  he  failed  little  of  having 
his  desire,  for  he  is  related  never  again  to  have  entered  the 
lecture-room  after  he  had  finished  it. 

In  speaking  of  the  works  of  Luther,  Melancthon  notices 
four  changes  of  doctrine  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
church  between  the  times  of  the  apostles  and  the  reforma- 
tion. The  first  he  calls  the  Ongeman,  in  which  the  church 
was  corrupted  by  philosophy,  and  which  thus  led  the  way 
to  the  errors  of  Pelagius.  The  next  was  the  Augustiman — 
"God  having  raised  up  the  Bishop  of  Hippo  to  correct  the 


216  Luther's  last  writings. 

prevailing  errors  :"  and  with  his  doctrine  he  was  satisfied 
that  that  of  Luther  agreed,  notwithstanding  the  dishonest 
attempts  made  to  prove  the  contrary.  The  third  was  the 
long  reign  of  ignorance  and  Rome.  The  fourth  he  refers 
to  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic,  who  aimed  to  correct  the  cry- 
ing abominations  of  the  times,  but,  through  want  of  better 
information,  plunged  the  church  in  superstition,  and  substi- 
tuted the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  for  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  All  good  men,  he  says,  desired  a  purer  doctrine,  as 
well  as  a  reformation  of  manners  ;  and  God  graciously 
raised  up  Luther  to  be  the  instrument  of  introducing  it. 

He  distributes  the  writings  of  the  great  reformer  into  three 
classes — didactic,  controversial,  and  expository ;  the  first 
laying  down  the  true  Christian  doctrine  on  all  the  most 
material  points  ;  the  second  refuting  the  numerous  errors 
opposed  to  it ;  and  the  third  illustrating  and  applying  the 
inspired  writings,  in  all  the  various  ways  that  the  circum- 
stances of  mankind  required.  And  the  last  class,  he  says, 
"  even  by  the  confession  of  enemies,  surpassed  all  other 
expositions  that  were  extant.  But  there  was  another 
work  of  Luther's  which  stood  alone,  and  which,  both  in 
labour  and  in  usefulness,  Melancthon  thinks  "  equalled  all 
the  rest" — his  translation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  into  the 
German  language  ;  which  was  itself  so  luminously  per- 
spicuous as  to  supply  the  place  of  a  commentary  ;  and  yet 
wanted  not  such  an  appendage  in  the  brief  but  learned 
annotations,  and  in  the  clear  arguments  of  the  several  parts 
which  accompanied  it.  "  It  was  Luther's  desire,"  he  finely 
remarks,  in  perfect  conformity  with  what  we  have  just  heard 
from  the  reformer  himself,  "  not  to  detain  men  upon  his 
own  writings,  but  to  lead  them -to  the  original  fountain  of 
truth.  He  wished  them  to  hear  the  voice  of  God  himself. 
By  that  he  desired  to  see  true  feith  produced,  and  true  prayer 
called  forth,  that  God  might  be  glorified,  and  numerous 
souls  made  heirs  of  eternal  life." 

Concerning  the  well-known  work  entitled  "  Luther's 
Table  Talk,"  which,  though  it  may  contain  many  amusing 
and  many  good  things,  has  yet  been  a  fruitful  source  of 
those  absurd  stories  and  extravagant  sayings  which  have 
greatly  lovi'cred  the  character  of  Luther  with  many  super- 
ficial readers ;  I  sul»join  the  remark  of  Bishop  Atterbury  - 


SMALKALDIC    WAR.  217 

*'  It  is  a  book  not  received  into  the  canon  by  the  learned. 
It  depends  purely  on  the  credit  of  one  Van  Sparr,  that  tells  a 
blind  story  of  his  finding  it  in  the  ruins  of  an  old  house, 
many  years  after  Luther  and  Aurifaber,  the  pretended  com- 
piler, were  dead ;  but  should  it  be  genuine,  yet  no  fair 
adversary  would  urge  loose  table  talk  against  a  man  in  contro- 
versy, and  build  serious  inferences  upon  what  perhaps  was 
spoken  but  in  jest.  It  may  serve  to  divert  a  reader,  but  is 
not  fit  to  convince  him." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The   War  of  Smalkald — Elector  of  Saxony   deposed,   and 
-  Maurice  advanced  in  his  room — Conduct  of  John  Frederick 
in  Captivity — TAtf  Interim  established — Conduct  ofMelano 
thon. 

It  will  easily  be  conceived  how  melancholy  an  impression 
would  be  made  upon  all  peaceable  and  pious  minds  by  the 
event  of  the  24th  of  July,  1546,  when  the  diet  of  Ratisbon 
broke  up,  and  both  parties  openly  prepared  for  war.*  It  is 
interesting  to  be  allowed  to  contemplate  that  impression, 
softened  and  alleviated  by  a  devout  resignation,  as  it  is 
exhibited  in  the  following  letter  of  Melancthon  to  his  friend 
Camerarius,  dated  only  four  days  after. 

"  I  thank  you  for  repeatedly  endeavouring  to  abate  my 
sadness  by  your  letters  ;  particularly  because  I  see,  that  iii 
doing  this  you  endeavour  to  rise  above  your  own  distress,  by 
means  of  the  consolations  which  God  has  provided  for  us. 
I  must  confess,  that  under  our  common  calamity,  the  thought 
of  your  aftiiction  often  increases  my  own  :  but  I  entreat 
you,  continue  to  support  yourself  with  these  consolations. 
Sooth  your  mind  also  in  the  society  of  your  excellent  wif6 
and  your  sweet  children. — Ah,  but  you  will  say.  When  I 
look  upon  them  it  does  but  aggravate  my  anxiety. — True^ 
it  must  do  so  sometimes.     Yet  consider  that  God  makes 

*  For  the  details  of  the  Smalkaldic  war,  the  reader  is  referred  t4 
Robertson's  Charles  V.,  books  viii.  and  ix. 
Vol.  II.-^T 


218  SMALKALDIC    WAR. 

the  families  of  his  servants  the  objects  of  his  care,  even 
amid  the  ruin  of  empires. — The  present  is  not  the  first 
commencement  of  ray  painful  feeUngs,  or  of  my  conviction 
that  we  should  have  to  suffer  oppression.  Long  since,  as 
you  well  know,  I  have  been  deeply  affected  by  observing, 
not  only  the  fury  of  our  enemies,  but  the  vices  and  sins  of 
our  own  people.  Though,  therefore,  my  feelings  are  more 
acute  in  this  crisis  of  the  calamity,  yet,  as  in  the  case  of 
diseases  of  long  continuance,  I  have  become  in  some  degree 
prepared  for  it :  and,  while  T  revolve  with  myself  all  that  is 
urged  concerning  the  causes  of  the  war,  the  characters  and 
views  of  the  leaders,  the  probable  conduct  of  the  military 
enterprises,  their  result,  and  what  may  be  the  event  of  the 
whole,  I  rest  in  the  sentence  of  Gamaliel,  '  If  this  counsel 
or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  naught ;  but,  if  it 
be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it :'  and  with  earnest  sighs 
and  prayers  I  seek  a  salutary  issue  for  the  church  of  God. 
With  my  own  private  danger  I  am  not  much  affected. 
Should  I  lose  my  life,  and  thus  afford  some  little  triumph  to 
them  that  rejoice  in  iniquity  (whose  number,  alas,  is  great 
on  every  side),  their  triumphing  will  be  short.  In  such 
circumstances  conscious  uprightness  is  a  great  support. — 
Some,  I  trust,  have  been  enlightened  by  means  of  our 
instructions — which  would  have  been  more  unexceptionable, 
but  for  the  confusions  of  the  times. — I  have  thus  written 
briefly  to  you,  to  relieve  your  anxiety  for  me.  .  .  Events, 
we  may  be  assured,  will  be  different  from  what  either  one 
party  or  the  other  anticipates." 

Melancthon  had,  no  doubt,  numbers  throughout  reformed 
Germany  to  sympathize  with  him  in  these  pious  sentiments, 
and  in  his  sighs  and  prayers  for  the  church,  which,  as  his 
numerous  epistles  testify,  he  was  never  weary  of  offering : 
and  such  persons  were  the  true  "  chariots  and  horsemen" 
of  their  Israel,  who  did  more  for  the  cause  in  which  they 
were  embarked,  than  the  troops  of  the  elector  and  the  land- 
grave could  effect ;  and  w^ho,  when  the  latter  were  defeated 
and  dispersed,  still  availed  to  bring  about  happy  events, 
*'  different  from  what  had  been  anticipated  by  either  party." 

The  actual  commencement  of  hostilities  on  the  part  of 
the  emperor  was  an  event  calculated  to  try  the  principle 
and  steadiness  of  all  professed  Protestants  :  and  accord- 
ingly, while  it  displayed  the  firmness  of  the  Elector  of  Sax 


SMALKALDIC    WAR.  219 

ony  and  many  chief  members  of  the  league,  it  detected  the 
weakness  of  some  and  the  wickedness  of  others  who  still 
avowed  attachment  to  the  Protestant  cause.  The  empe- 
ror's protestations,  that  he  made  not  war  on  account  of  re- 
ligion, but  only  to  put  down  insubordination  and  to  punish 
rebellion,  imposed  upon  some  ;  and  furnished  to  others,  who 
ought,  upon  every  principle  of  honour  and  religion,  to  have 
appeared  on  the  other  side,  a  pretext  for  attaching  them- 
selves to  him.  Among  those  who  weakly  took  part  with 
the  emperor  we  may  reckon  John  of  Brandenburg,*  Eric 
of  Brunswick,  and  George  of  Mecklenburg.  Ulric  of  Wiir- 
temburg  and  the  city  of  Frankfort  were  also,  at  an  early 
period,  so  far  overawed  as  to  join  them ;  while  Joachim 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  Frederic  Elector  Palatine 
professed  to  stand  neuter ;  and  Maurice  of  Saxony  having, 
with  deliberate  and  too  successful  villany,  formed  the  plan 
of  possessing  himself,  by  means  of  these  troubles,  of  the 
dominions  and  dignities  of  the  elector,  avowed  his  reliance 
on  the  emperor's  word  for  the  safety  of  religion,  and 
secretly  entered  into  a  treaty  to  support  him  in  the  contest. 
In  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  an  aged  ecclesiastic,  who, 
though  a  sincere  Protestant,  had  never  joined  the  league, 
and  was  now  also  under  sentence  of  deposition  for  his  re- 
ligion, the  observance  of  neutrality,  in  obedience  to  the  em- 
peror's command,  might  well  be  excused. ^On  the  other 
part,  besides  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse,  with  the  brother  and  the  eldest  son  of  the  former, 
Philip  Duke  of  Brunswick,  Calenburg  and  his  four  sons, 
Francis  Duke  of  Lunenburg,  Wolfgang  Prince  of  Anhalt, 
Christopher  Count  Henneberg,t  and  Albert  Count  Mans- 
feldt,  openly  ranged  themselves.  The  city  of  Strasburg 
also  did  itself  immortal  honour  by  the  part  it  acted,  both  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war  and  after  its  conclusion.  To 
it,  in  common  with  the  other  free  cities  in  the  Protestant 
interest,  the  emperor  addressed  an  insidious  letter,  profess- 
ing to  separate  their  cause  from  that  of  the  princes  of  the 
same  persuasion  ;  representing  that  there  existed  a  con- 
spiracy against  their  liberties  and  those  of  Germany ;  and 
exhorting  them  to  join  him  in  putting  down  those  traitorous 
persons  who  were  their  common  enpmies.     The  senate  re- 

*  See  p.  100  t  See  p.  153.  ^ 


220  SMALKALDIC   WAR. 

plied,  in  dutiful  but  decided  terms,  advocating  the  cause  of 
the  reformation,  asserting  the  fidelity  of  the  princes  (of 
which  the  emperor,  they  said,  had  had  large  experience  in 
the  wars  against  the  Turks),  and  insisting  that  he  had  been 
taught  to  think  injuriously  of  them  by  the  pope  and  his  ad- 
herents, who  were  the  real  authors  of  the  present  counsels  ; 
and  imploring  him  to  pause  and  reflect  before  he  involved 
Germany  in  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 

After  all  the  artifice  practised  and  the  secret  preparations 
made  by  the  emperor,  the  zeal  of  the  Protestants,  when  they 
gaw  war  to  be  inevitable,  anticipated  him.  They  were 
first  ready,  and  in  great  force  (amounting  to  70,000  foot 
and  15,000  horse),  to  take  the  field;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  hesitation  with  which  men,  and  especially  con- 
scientious men,  strike  the  first  blow  in  a  civil  war,  it  seems 
not  improbable  that  they  might  have  stormed  his  camp  at 
Ingoldstadt,  and  dispersed  his  half-collected  army  at  the 
very  outset.  Before  this,  also,  Schertel,  a  soldier  of  for- 
tune, and  an  ancestor  of  the  historian  Seckendorf,  at  the 
head  of  some  troops  raised  by  the  city  of  Augsburg,  had  the 
prospect  of  cutting  off,  at  Inspruck,  the  pope's  forces  on 
their  way  to  join  the  emperor  ;  but  he  was  timidly  or  inju- 
diciously recalled  by  the  elector  and  the  landgrave. 

These  were  only  specimens  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
whole  of  the  war  was  misconducted,  in  great  measure  in 
consequence  of  that  divided  and  co-ordinate  authority  vested 
in  two  chiefs,  and  those  of  such  different  characters,  which 
has  ever  been  found  fatal  to  military  operations.  The  great 
object  pursued  by  the  emperor  was,  to  decline  a  battle,  and 
by  wearying  out  the  patience  of  the  confederates  to  induce 
them  to  separate  ;  when  his  victory  over  each  in  succession 
would  be  sure.  And  in  this  design  he  eventually  succeeded 
by  the  aid  of  Maurice. 

When  the  elector  quitted  his  own  country  to  join  the 
confederates,  he  committed  his  dominions  to  the  protection 
of  that  prince— his  next  neighbour  and  his  near  relative, 
who  had  received  great  obligations  from  him,  and  professed, 
in  common  with  himself,  a  zeal  for  the  Protestant  faith  ; 
and  Maurice,  who  had  concealed  his  engagements  to  the 
emperor,  with  an  artful  appearance  of  friendship,  undertook 
the  charge.  No  sooner,  however,  had  the  emperor  inform- 
ally and  illegally  put  the  elector  and  the  landgrave  to  the 


SMALKALDIC    WAR.  221 

ban  of  the  empire,  than  he  sent  Maurice  a  copy  of  his  de- 
cree, and  required  him,  on  pain  of  incurring  similar  penal- 
ties, to  seize  and  retain  in  his  hands  the  forfeited  estates 
of  the  elector  ;  and  Maurice,  with  whom  it  is  probable  the 
whole  matter  had  been  previously  concerted,  did  not  scruple, 
after  some  formalities  observed  for  a  decent  show  of  reluc- 
tance, to  march  into  his  kinsman's  territories,  and,  with  aid 
received  from  Ferdinand  King  of  the  Romans,  to  attack  and 
defeat  his  troops,  and  to  take  all  things  under  his  own 
administration. 

This  diversion  had  the  desired  effect.  The  elector,  indig-  < 
nant  at  such  treachery,  and  afflicted  at  the  accounts  which 
he  received  of  the  sufferings  endured  by  his  subjects  from 
licentious  Hungarian  soldiers,  accustomed  to  the  merciless 
modes  of  warfare  practised  against  the  Turks,  became 
impatient  to  return  home.  In  consequence,  about  the  end 
of  the  year,  the  army  of  the  confederates  divided,  and  the 
greater  part  returned  into  their  own  countries  under  their 
respective  leaders.  The  elector,  indeed,  succeeded  in 
immediately  rescuing  his  territories  from  the  invaders,  and 
in  stripping  Maurice  for  a  time  of  nearly  all  his  own  domin- 
ions ;  but  the  separation  of  the  army  was  th"^  ruin  of  the 
cause.  The  emperor  availed  himself  to  the  utmost  of  the 
advantage  given  him,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  elector 
and  the  landgrave,  almost  all  the  Protestant  princes  and 
states  were  compelled  to  submit,  to  implore  pardon  in  the 
most  humiliating  manner,  and  to  pay  heavy  fines  for  the 
part  they  had  taken.  They  were  not  allowed  to  make  any 
stipulation  with  regard  to  their  religion  :  indeed,  the  sub- 
ject was  not  permitted  to  be  mentioned — in  order  to  keep 
up  the  emperor's  pretence,  that  the  war,  on  his  part,  had 
no  religious  object. 

On  this  painful  occasion  Melancthon  writes  to  Cruciger, 
February  13,  1547  :  "At  a  time  when  our  leaders  had  one 
of  the  most  glorious  causes  that  the  history  of  the  world 
presents,  and  when  the  eyes  of  all  Europe  were  fixed  upon 
them,  how  lamentably  have  they  disgraced  themselves  ! 
But  by  these  examples  God  admonishes  us  to  look  for 
heavenly  succour.  In  the  confidence  of  obtaining  it,  let  us 
bear  our  calamities  with  patience." 

Various  circumstances  for  a  time  restrained  the  emperor 
from  marching  into  Saxony,  but  in  the  following  spring 
T2 


222  ADVANCEMENT    OF    MAURICE. 

these  obstacles  were  removed,  and  on  the  24th  of  April  he 
engaged  the  elector  at  Muhlberg  on  the  Elbe,  defeated  and 
took  him  prisoner,  and,  in  effect,  terminated  the  war.  Wit- 
temberg,  indeed,  then  esteemed  one  of  the  strongest  places 
in  Germany,  animated  by  the  exhortations  of  the  electress 
— "  a  woman  no  less  distinguished  by  her  abilities  than  her 
virtues" — still  held  out,  and  Charles  was  not  in  a  condition 
to  make  himself  master  of  it.  This  appears  to  have  sug- 
gested to  him  the  barbarous  measure,  intended  to  work  upon 
the  feelings  of  the  elector's  family,  of  bringing  that  justly- 
venerated  prince  to  a  mock  trial,  before  a  court-martial 
composed  of  Spanish  and  Italian  officers,  with  the  unre- 
lenting Duke  of  Alva  at  their  head.  By  this  court,  simply 
on  the  ground  of  the  emperor's  invalid  decree,  which  pro- 
claimed him  a  rebel  and  traitor,  he  was  sentenced  to  death. 
The  unexpected  personal  danger  of  her  beloved  consort  so 
subdued  the  spirit  of  the  electress,  that  she  immediately 
conjured  him,  by  letters  and  messengers,  to  scruple  no  con- 
cession for  his  own  preservation,  and  the  relief  of  the  an- 
guish of  his  family  ;  and  the  elector,  who  had  been  unmoved 
by  his  own  danger,  was  induced  by  regard  to  their  feelings 
to  agree  to  terms  of  accommodation,  to  which  he  would  not 
otherwise  have  listened.  He  consented  to  resign  abso- 
lutely into  the  emperor's  hands  the  electoral  dignity,  and  to 
put  him  in  possession  of  Wittemberg  and  of  such  other 
parts  of  his  dominions  as  were  yet  unsubdued  ;  and,  in  re- 
turn, Charles  engaged  to  spare  his  life,  and  to  settle  on  him 
and  his  family  the  city  of  Gotha,  and  the  small  territory 
attached  to  it,  with  an  annual  pension  of  fifty  thousand 
florins,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  electorate.  He 
himself  was  to  remain  a  perpetual  prisoner. 

Maurice,  as  the  reward  of  his  iniquity,  was  immediately 
put  in  possession  of  the  electoral  dominions,  uaj  some  time 
after  solemnly  invested  with  the  electoral  dignity — which 
has  ever  since  continued  in  the  family  of  his  brother,  he 
himself  having  left  no  male  issue.  Thus  are  the  wicked 
often  permitted  here  to  practise  and  prosper,  and  the  right- 
eous subjected  to  oppression ;  but  we  shall  see  that  the 
good  elector,  even  in  bonds,  was  regarded  with  veneration, 
and  might  justly  have  been  considered  as  an  object  of  envy, 
in  comparison  with  either  his  heartless  conqueror  or  his 
unprincipled  relative — for  both  of  whom  chastisement  was 
preparing. 


JOHN   FREDERIC    IN   CAPTIVITY.  223 

The  landgrave  alone  now  remained  in  arms  ;  and  he  was 
shortly  after  drawn,  we  may  say  trepanned,  into  submission. 
The  emperor  required  him  to  surrender  upon  conditions  to 
be  dictated  absolutely  to  him  ;  and  he  was  at  length  pre- 
vailed on,  contrary  to  his  own  sentiments,  to  do  it,  having 
the  guarantee  of  Maurice  and  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg 
for  his  personal  liberty.  In  this,  however,  they,  as  well  as 
the  landgrave  himself,  were  deceived.  After  the  most 
abasing  submissions  in  the  emperor's  presence,  which  were 
received  with  unfeeling  and  insulting  neglect,  he  was  suf- 
fered to  retire,  apparently  at  liberty,  and  was  entertained 
by  the  Duke  of  Alva  :  but  when  after  supper  he  arose  to 
depart,  the  duke  made  known  the  orders  he  had  received  to 
detain  him ;  and  no  intercessions,  no  representations  what- 
ever, could  induce  the  emperor  to  release  him,  till  after  a 
lapse  of  five  years  he  was  compelled  to  do  it  by  the  reverse 
in  his  own  affairs. 

From  these  agitating,  these  irritating  scenes,  we  turn  to 
what  is  of  a  very  different  character,  and  much  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  design  of  our  history — the  meekly  mag- 
nanimous, the  sublimely  Christian  conduct  of  the  late  elector 
John  Frederic  in  captivity.  AH  authors  agree  in  bestow- 
ing this  high  praise  upon  him  ;  but  I  shall  chiefly  fol- 
low Thuanus,  who,  being  a  Roman  Catholic  (though  an 
eminently  fair  and  candid  one),  will  be  less  suspected  of 
partiality  than  Protestant  writers  might  be. 

"  The  elector,"  sayg  this  excellent  author,  "  was  a  great 
man,  and  even  by  the  testimony  of  his  enemies,  equal  in 
courtesy,  liberality,  prudence,  and  invincible  fortitude,  to 
the  most  distinguished  princes.  In  the  judgment  of  all 
ni-en,  he  rose  superior  to  his  adverse  fortune  by  the  con- 
stancy of  his  mind."  "  Though  irresolute  in  council,  he 
was  bold  in  action."  Accordingly,  his  conduct  at  Muhl- 
berg,  from  the  time  that  an  engagement  had  become  una- 
voidable, is  highly  commended..  When,  after  discharging 
the  duties  of  a  brave  commander,  wounded  in  the  face,  ex- 
hausted with  fatigue,  and  nearly  deserted  by  his  followers, 
he  surrendered  himself  a  prisoner,  he  was  conducted  imme- 
diately to  the  emperor.  On  approaching  him,  the  elector 
took  off  his  glove,  and  was  about  to  alight  from  his  horse 
that  he  might  take  the  hand  of  the  conqueror,  as  was  the 


224  JOHN    FREDERIC 

custom  in  such  cases  ;  but  Charles  spurned  his  approach. 
*'  I  yield  myself  your  prisoner,  most  gracious  emperor," 
said  John  Frederic,  "  and  hope" — the  emperor  interrupted 
him:  "And  am  I  now  then  your  emperor?  Charles  of 
Ghent  was  all  you  could  lately  call  me."  The  elector  un- 
moved, resumed — "  I  hope  to  be  treated  according  to  my 
rank." — "  You  shall  be  treated  according  to  your  desert," 
was  all  the  reply  the  emperor  vouchsafed  him,  instantly 
turning  his  back  upon  him.  Ferdinand  openly  reproached 
him,  using  expressions  still  more  ungenerous  and  insulting. 
The  elector  returned  no  answer,  but  with  an  unaltered  coun- 
tenance accompanied  the  soldiers  appointed  to  guard  him. 

Duke  Ernest  of  Brunswick  was  made  prisoner  with  the 
elector,  and  they  were  conveyed  together  in  the  same  char- 
iot, being  led  as  it  were  in  triumph  after  the  emperor  in  his 
further  progress  thro-^h  Saxony.  Such  an  exhibition  of 
the  fallen  elector  was  extremely  afflicting  to  his  subjects, 
who  both  honoured  and  loved  him.  Mclancthon  thus  pa- 
thetically notices  his  still  accompanying  the  emperor  wher- 
ever he  went,  in  the  same  manner,  nearly  a  year  and  a  half 
afterward  :  "  A  criminal  judge  precedes  the  army  of  the 
emperor,  who  is  accompanied  by  the  captives,  and  among 
them  by  our  captive  prince.  O  sad  spectacle  !  It  often 
reminds  me  of  the  words,  He  was  numbered  with  the  trans- 
gressors.''^— "  This  indignity,  however,  was  so  far  from 
subduing  the  elector's  spirit,  that  it  did  not  even  ruffle  the 
wonted  tranquillity  and  composure  of  his  mind." 

This  was  strikingly  illustrated  when  they  arrived  at 
Torgau,  on  their  way  from  Muhlberg  to  Wittemberg.  This 
town  was  adorned  with  one  of  the  finest  and  most  beautifully 
situated  castles  in  Germany,  which  had  been  a  hunting-seat 
of  the  Electors  of  Saxony.  "  Here,"  said  the  elector  to  the 
Spanish  officer  who  guarded  him,  "  Here  is  something  to 
gratify  Maurice,  if  his  mind  is  at  ease  to  enjoy  it."  His 
companion  Ernest  expressing  surprise,  and  a  degree  of 
chagrin,  that  he  should  speak  in  this  manner  of  his  own 
losses,  he  replied,  "  Why  should  I  disquiet  myself  about 
things  of  this  nature,  which  even  while  we  retain  them  can 
hardly  be  called  our  own  1"  When  Ernest  answered  only 
by  a  deep  sigh,  he  turned  to  him,  and  said  in  a  lower  tone, 
"  I  would  gladly  instill  into  your  mind  the  sentiments  which  I 
cherish  in  ray  own,  and  which  are  well  suited  to  calm  our 


IN   CAPTIVITY.  225 

passions — to  subdue  our  regrets,  and  resentments,  and  de- 
sires of  revenge.  When  any  one  is  unable  to  preserve  his 
external  goods  against  a  more  powerful  assailant,  he  may- 
still  fortify  his  mind  by  lessons  of  wisdom,  and  thus  rise 
above  his  calamities,  and  even  in  captivity  come  off  more 
than  conqueror  over  his  victorious  foe." 

WTien  the  sentence  of  death,  passed  upon  him  by  the 
emperor's  iniquitous  court-martial,  was  made  known  to  him, 
he  was  amusing  himself  by  playing  at  chess  with  his  fellow- 
captive.  He  paused  for  a  moment,  and  without  discovering 
any  symptom  of  surprise  or  terror,  he  observed,  "  So  then, 
if  Wittemberg  does  not  surrender,  I  must  die — for  I  see 
what  is  aimed  at.  Well,  this  does  not  dismay  me.  I  wish 
it  may  no  more  affect  my  wife  and  children,  and  friends, 
and  that  they  may  not,  for  the  sake  of  adding  a  few  days 
to  a  life  already  too  long,  renounce  honours  and  possessions 
to  which  they  were  born."  He  added,  "  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, prohibit  their  yielding  something  for  the  satisfaction 
of  their  own  feelings  ;  but  let  them  not  in  their  solicitude 
for  me,  forget  themselves."  He  then  turned  to  his  antago- 
nist, whom  he  challenged  to  continue  the  game.  He  played 
with  his  usual  attention  and  ingenuity,  and  having  beaten 
Ernest,  expressed  all  the  satisfaction  which  is  usually  felt 
on  gaining  such  victories.  After  this,  he  withdrew  to  his 
own  apartment,  that  he  might  employ  the  rest  of  his  time 
in  such  religious  exercises  as  were  proper  in  his  situation. 

We  have  next  to  notice  the  deposed  elector's  invincible 
adherence  to  his  religious  principles  under  all  circumstances. 

When  the  terms  were  proposed  to  him  on  which  his  life 
should  be  spared,  and  some  arrangement  made  for  the  benefit 
of  his  family,  one  of  the  articles  prescribed  was,  that  he 
should  approve  whatever  the  emperor,  or  the  council  of  Trent, 
should  determine  in  matters  of  religion.  But,  while  he  con- 
sented to  resign  all  his  earthly  dignities  and  possessions,  he 
peremptorily  rejected  this  article  ;  nor  could  even  the  fear 
of  immediate  death  induce  him  to  listen  to  it ;  so  that  the 
haughty  emperor  was  obliged  to  order  it  to  be  struck  out. 

When  he  had  languished  a  year  longer  in  captivity,  and 
the  emperor  had  introduced,  and  was  enforcing,  his  scheme 
of  religion  called  the  Interim,  Charles  well  knowing  the  in- 
fluence which  his  prisoner's  example  would  have  with  all  the 
Protestant  party,  laboured  with  the  utmost  earnestness  to 


226  JOHN    FREDERIC    IN    CAPTIVITY. 

obtain  his  approbation  of  this  formulary  ;  and,  by  employing 
sometimes  promises  of  setting  him  at  liberty,  sometimes 
threats  of  greater  harshness,  he  attempted  alternately  to 
work  upon  his  hopes  and  his  fears :  but  it  was  all  in  vain. 
"  He  was  daily  more  and  more  confirmed,"  he  said,  "  by  the 
study  of  the  SacredWritings,  in  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  he 
had  embraced  ;  and  nothing  could  be  more  criminal  in  him 
than  to  act  contrary  to  this  conviction  :  it  would  be  no  less 
than  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  can  never  be  for- 
given." He  entreated  the  emperor,  therefore,  by  all  the  mer- 
cies of  God  in  Christ,  that  he  would  not  urge  him  to  any  such 
violation  of  his  duty,  or  misinterpret  his  refusal.  He  was  not 
actuated,  he  said,  by  vainglory,  or  by  any  other  worldly  con- 
sideration— "  for  what  was  there  of  that  nature  which  could 
outweigh  in  his  estimation  (especially  considering  his  age  and 
his  habit  of  body)*  the  liberty  of  returning  to  repose  at  home 
in  the  society  of  his  beloved  wife  and  children  ] — but  he  aimed 
simply  at  this  one  object,  by  the  true  worship  and  service  of 
God  on  earth  to  come  at  length  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  hea- 
venly kingdom.  In  all  things  else  he  had  ever  been,  and  ever 
would  be,  ready  to  consult  the  emperor's  wishes,  and  as  be- 
came an  upright  man,  and  one  of  his  quality,  would  faithfully 
observe  every  engagement  he  had  made  to  him." — This  mag- 
nanimous conduct  drew  upon  him  fresh  marks  of  the  empe- 
ror's displeasure.  Th^  rigour  of  his  confinement  was  in- 
creased ;  the  number  of  his  servants  abridged  ;  the  chap- 
lain, who  had  hitherto  attended  him,  was  obliged,  from  re- 
gard to  his  own  safety,  to  withdraw  in  disguise  ;  and  even 
the  elector's  books  of  devotion  were  taken  from  him. 

Some  time  after,  the  emperor  caused  the  displeasure  which 
he  felt  at  the  conduct  of  the  elector's  sons,  in  both  rejecting 
the  Interim  themselves,  and  allowing  their  preachers  to  im- 
pugn it  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  to  be  represented  to 
him,  and  desired  that  he  would  interpose  his  authority 
with  them  in  these  respects.  But  the  elector  replied,  that 
he  had  before  stated  his  own  sentiments  on  the  new  scheme 
of  doctrine  ;  that  they  remained  unaltered  ;  and  that  he 
could  not  urge  his  children  to  do  that  which  he  could  not 
with  a  good  conscience  do  himself.     He  entreated  the  em- 

*  Extremely  corpulent  and  unwieldy.  Yet  Luther  in  one  of  hia 
latest  works  extols  the  laborious  diligence  of  the  elector. 


JOHN    FREDERIC    LIBERATED.  227 

peror  therefore  to  view  in  a  favourable  light  both  his  own 
conduct  and  that  of  his  sons. 

Another  trying  scene,  which  would  have  been  overpowering 
to  a  worldly  mind,  served  only  to  display  still  further  his 
equanimity  and  Christian  charity.  At  the  diet  held  at 
Augsburg  in  the  year  1548,  Maurice  was  to  be  solemnly 
invested  with  the  electoral  dignity,  of  which  John  Frederic 
had  been  stripped ;  and,  as  if  in  wanton  mockery  of  the 
deprived  elector's  feelings,  this  was  done  in  the  open  mar- 
ket-place within  sight  of  his  lodgings.  His  attention  being 
drawn  by  the  acclamations  of  the  people,  he  walked  to  the 
window,  and,  for  a  short  time  viewing  the  spectacle,  ob- 
served, "With  what  exultation  do  the  friends  of  Maurice 
congratulate  his  advancement  to  the  dignity  of  which  I  am 
unjustly  despoiled  !  Well,  may  this  change  have  so  peace- 
ful and  happy  a  result,  that  they  may  never  have  to  regret 
the  loss  of  me  and  my  family."  And  he  then  returned  to 
the  devotional  reading  in  which  he  chiefly  passed  his  lime. 

After  he  had  been  dragged  about,  in  the  manner  we  have 
seen,  during  more  than  five  years,  such  changes  took  place 
as  no  longer  left  the  emperor  any  motive  for  detaining  him. 
He  accordingly  obtained  his  liberty,  and  took  possession  of 
the  small  territory  which  had  been  reserved  to  his  family,  the 
districts  of  Jena  and  Weimar  having  been  added  to  that  of 
Gotha,  in  lieu  of  the  pension  originally  stipulated.  His  re- 
turn occasioned  great  joy  to  many,  who  had  honoured  him  in 
his  prosperity,  and  no\v  still  more  revered  him  for  his  conduct 
under  adversity.  Melancthon  thus  celebrates  the  event,  with 
affectionate  delight,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend.  "  Though  pub- 
lic congratulations  will  outstrip  my  letters,  I  must  announce 
to  you  that,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  the  Duke  of  Sax- 
ony, John  Frederic,  is  with  his  wife  and  children  in  Thu- 
ringia.  His  peaceful  return  is  more  glorious  than  a  blood- 
stained triumph.  Posterity  will  recount  this  among  the 
proofs  that  God  hears  the  sighs  of  the  righteous,  and  relieves 
their  troubles  even  in  this  life."  Of  his  conduct,  and  the 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  after  his  return.  Dr.  Robert- 
son says,  "i\s  in  his  new  situation  he  continued  to  display 
the  same  virtuous  magnanimity  for  which  he  had  been  con- 
spicuous in  a  more  prosperous  and  splendid  state,  and  which 
he  had  retained  amid  all  his  sufferings,  he  maintained  during 


228       DEATH  OF  JOHN  FREDERIC. 

the  remainder  of  his  life  that  high  reputation  to  which  he 
had  so  just  a  title." 

He  survived  his  return  only  eighteen  months,  dying  at 
Weimar,  March  3,  1554,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years,  just 
after  he  had  concluded  with  Augustus,  the  brother  and  suc- 
cessor of  Maurice,  an  arrangement  by  which  the  electorate 
was  to  revert  to  his  family  in  case  that  prince  should  leave 
no  children.  His  wife  (Sibylla  of  Cleves)  died  eleven  days 
before  him,  having  obtained  the  desire  of  her  heart ;  for  fre- 
quently she  had  been  heard  to  say,  that  she  could  die  with 
entire  resignation,  if  she  might  but  see  her  beloved  husband 
once  more  return  home,  in  possession  of  his  liberty.  When 
her  tomb  was  preparing,  he  gave  orders  that  a  place  should 
be  reserved  for  him  by  her  side,  saying,  that  he  should  soon 
follow  her. — >"  They  both,"  says  Sleiden,  "died  in  the  true 
knowledge  of  God  :"  and  of  the  elector,  in  particular,  he 
observes,  "  Having  heard  a  sermon  as  he  lay  on  his  bed,  he 
implored  the  Divine  mercy,  and  commended  his  spirit  into  the 
hands  of  God  ;  and  thus  departed  out  of  this  miserable  life, 
to  enter  into  the  heavenly  state." 

Of  the  sons  of  John  Frederic  nothing  very  memorable  is 
recorded,  except  that,  at  their  father's  suggestion,  they 
became  the  founders  of  the  university  of  Jena,  intended  to 
supply  the  loss  of  that  of  Wittemberg.  The  eldest  passed 
nearly  thirty  years  in  captivity,  and  ended  his  days  in  that 
state,  in  consequence  of  an  ill-advised  attempt  to  retrieve  the 
affairs  of  his  family. 

It  would  have  been  highly  gratifying  to  present  any  ac- 
counts of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  similar  to  those  which  we 
have  been  reading  of  his  old  friend  and  ally  :  but,  alas !  his 
conduct  in  captivity  in  most  points  furnished  a  contrast  to 
that  of  the  elector.  The  treachery  indeed  (for  it  deserves 
no  better  name)  by  which  he  had  been  deprived  of  his 
liberty,  and  the  unfeeling  cruelty  with  which  his  galling  cap- 
tivity was  continued  when  no  conceivable  end  remained  to 
be  answered  by  it,  rouse  our  indignation  even  at  this  dis- 
tance of  time  :  yet  his  unabated  impatience  under  his 
calamity,  and  the  unworthy  surrender  even  of  his  religious 
principles,  which  he  appears  to  have  voluntarily  offered,  in 
order  to  obtain  his  liberty,  while  they  excite  our  deepest  re- 
gret, camiot  escape  our  marked  condemnation.     He  recov" 


THE  LANDdRAVE.  229 

ereJ  his  liberty  about  the  same  time  with  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  and  was  reinstated  in  his  dominions  :  but  his  suffer- 
ings appear  to  have  broken  the  vigour  and  extinguished  the 
activity  of  his  mind.  "  From  being  the  boldest,  as  well  as 
the  most  enterprising  prince  of  the  empire,  he  became  the 
most  timid  and  cautious,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  a  pacific  indolence."*  On  the  whole  we  cannot  but 
fear  (and  we  express  the  sentiment  in  this  connexion  with 
great  pain)  that  in  him,  as  compared  with  the  good  Elector 
of  Saxony,  we  see  illustrated  the  wide  difference  between 
the  case  of  religion  merely  carrying  conviction  to  the  under- 
standing, and  calling  forth  the  exertions  of  a  mind  naturally 
stirring  and  active,  and  one  in  which  it  thoroughly  takes 
possession  of  the  heart.  In  the  former  the  time  of  trial  will 
discover  the  essential  deficiency  :  and  then  very  probably 
even  those  useful  qualities  which  seemed  most  natural  and 
inherent,  not  being  supported  by  real  Christian  principle  and 
Divine  grace,  may  fail ;  while  the  other  character,  perhaps 
originally  less  vigorous,  "  by  waiting  on  the  Lord  renews 
his  strength,"  yea,  "  waxes  stronger  and  stronger." — "  The 
lamp"  of  theelector  we  see  burning  brightly  to  the  last,  while 
that  of  the  landgrave  apparently  goes  out. 

But  we  return  to  the  more  public  transactions  of  the  times* 
The  emperor  showed  no  moderation  in  his  use  of  the  victory 
which  he  had  obtained.  Even  before  the  battle  of  Muhlberg 
he  had  assumed  the  style  of  a  conqueror,  and  dictated  his 
own  terms  to  the  princes  and  cities  which  sought  to  make 
peace  with  him.  Immediately  after  the  battle,  Bohemia, 
which  had  shown  a  disposition  to  assert  the  liberty  that  by 
the  constitution  of  its  government  belonged  to  it,  and  even 
to  assist  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  was  reduced  under  the  most 
absolute  despotism  of  Ferdinand.  In  receiving  the  submis- 
sion of  the  various  states  which  were  now  compelled  to  bow 
to  the  emperor's  yoke,  no  mention,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
permitted  to  be  made  of  religion.  That  whole  subject  was 
reserved  for  the  diet  which  met  at  Ulm  on  the  15th  of  June, 
and,  by  adjournment,  at  Augsburg,  on  the  1st  of  September, 
1547.  In  both  places  the  assembly  was  surrounded  by  the 
emperor's  victorious  troops,  prepared  to  mould  its  sentiments 

*  Robertson. 
Vol.  II.— U 


230  COUNCIL  OF    TRENT. 

to  conformity  with  their  master's  wishes.  Immediately  on 
entering  Augsburg,  Charles  took  possession  of  the  cathedral 
and  some  other  churches,  and,  after  they  had  been  duly  pu- 
rified, restored  the  popish  worship  in  them,  so  much  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants,  that  it  is  said  the 
poorer  classes  were  bribed  to  attend  the  service,  lest  the  ab- 
sence of  a  congregation  should  testify  the  feeling  that  pre- 
vailed. 

The  demand  which  the  emperor  first  made  was,  that  all 
should  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  council  of  Trent.  The 
Roman  Catholic  states  were,  of  course,  sufiiciently  ready 
to  make  this  engagement ;  and  several  of  the  Protestant 
princes — Maurice,  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg — from  whom  better  things  might  have  been 
hoped,  were  induced  to  concur  in  it.  Some,  however,  even 
in  these  circumstances,  were  found  to  hold  fast  their  integrity: 
and  with  the  cities  the  emperor  was  reduced  to  practise  an 
extraordinary  artifice.  They  drew  up  a  memorial  of  the  con- 
ditions on  which  they  were  willing  to  submit  to  the  council, 
comprising  some  of  the  principal  stipulations  for  which  the 
Protestants  had  ever  contended.  When  the  paper  was  pre- 
sented to  him,  he  affected,  ^'ithout  ever  looking  at  it,  to  con- 
sider it  as  a  declaration  of  unreserved  submission,  and 
thanked  them  for  their  compliance  with  his  wishes. 

But  on  the  subject  of  the  council,  ditficulties  arose  which 
the  emperor  had  not  anticipated.  Scarcely  had  Charles's 
successes  against  the  Protestants  commenced,  when  the 
pope  became  sensible  of  the  danger  to  which  he  should  be 
exposed  if  the  emperor  became  absolute  master  in  Germany. 
At  the  earliest  period,  therefore,  that  the  engagements  into 
which  he  had  entered  v/ould  allow,  he  withdrew  his  quota 
of  troops  from  the  imperial  army,  and  even  began  to  project 
an  alliance  with  the  King  of  France.*  No  longer  daring  to 
trust  a  council  assembled  at  Trent,  where  it  would  be  ex- 
posed to  the  emperor's  influence,  he  translated  it  to  Bologna, 
where  he  might  hope  to  have  it  under  his  own  control :  but, 
as  this  removal  must  destroy  all  expectation  of  the  council's 
being  acknowledged  by  the  Germans,  it  was  strenuously 
opposed  by  the  emperor  and  other  princes  ;  which  produced 

*  The  emperor  was  seasonably  relieved  from  danger  from  this  quarter, 
by  the  death  of  his  old  rival  Francis  I.,  IMarcti  31,  \bi1.  Henry  VIII.  of 
England  had  died  two  months  before. 


THE  INTERIM.  231 

a  schism  in  the  council  itself,  such  of  the  fathers  as  were 
under  the  emperor's  influence  pertinaciously  remaining  at 
Trent,  while  the  rest  departed  to  Bologna.  Much  alterca- 
tion ensued,  which  issued  in  an  indefinite  adjournment  of 
the  assembly  :.nor  were  any  means  found  for  adjusting  the 
dift'erence,  and  bringing  the  council  again  into  action,  till 
more  than  four  years  after,  when  Julius  III.  had  succeeded 
Paul  III.  in  the  papal  chair,  and  the  season  of  enforcing 
its  decrees  was  past. 

Thus  disappointed  in  his  views  from  this  quarter,  Charles, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  peace  and  uniformity  in  re- 
ligion throughout  Germany,  resolved  on  a  measure  which 
as  much  astonished  the  devoted  Romanists,  as  it  proved  op- 
pressive to  the  Protestants.  This  was  no  other  than  bring- 
ing forward  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  diet,  and  thus  enforced 
in  the  empire,  a  scheme  of  religion  well  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Interim — from  its  being  proposed  to  be  continued  in 
force  only  till  the  decision  of  a  satisfactory  general  council 
could  be  had.  The  persons  whom  Charles  employed  to 
draw  up  this  formulary  were  Pflug,  Bishop  of  Naumburg, 
Heldingus,  made  the  year  following  Bishop  of  Mersburg, 
and  Agricola  Islebius  ;  the  two  former  Romanists  of  some 
moderation,  and  the  latter  little  better  than  an  apostate 
Lutheran.*  The  work  was  such  as  might  be  expected 
from  its  authors.  "  Its  contents,"  says  Thuanus,  "  were 
agreeable  to  the  hitherto  received  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  except  that  it  did  not  utterly  condemn  the 
marriage  of  the  priests,  or  entirely  reject  communion  in 
both  kinds."  It  was  drawn  up,  however,  very  much  upon 
the  plan  of  the  book  submitted  seven  years  before  to  the  diet 
of  Ratisbon,  and  of  Gropper's  scheme  of  reformation  for 
Cologne  ;t  and  consequently  was  "  expressed,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  softest  words,  or  in  Scriptural  phrases,  or  in 
terms  of  studied  ambiguity." 

Before  it  was  publicly  brought  forward,  the  Interim  was 
submitted  to  the  examination  of  select  persons.  Bucer 
being  sent  for  from  Strasburg  by  the  Elector  of  Branden- 


*  "  Suspected  not  without  reason,"  says  Robertson,  "  of  having  been 
gained  by  bribes  and  promises,  to  betray  or  mislead  his  party  on  this 
occasion." 

tSee  p.  104,  142. 


232  THE    INTERIM. 

burg,  who  now  "  made  it  his  study  to  please  the  emperor,"* 
was  pressed  both  by  him  and  Granvelle,  the  emperor's  chief 
minister,  to  subscribe  it ;  and,  on  his  refusing  to  do  so,  it 
was  not  without  danger  of  his  life  that  he  had  made  his 
escape  and  returned  home.  A  copy  of  the  work  was  also 
sent  to  Rome,  where  a  great  outcry  was  made  against  the 
emperor's  presumption  in  adventuring  to  meddle  with  such 
subjects,  as  well  as  against  some  things  contained  in  the 
book.  The  aged  pope,  however,  more  sagacious  from  long 
experience  in  affairs,  only  wondered  that  Charles  could  be 
so  elated  by  one  victory,  as  to  imagine  that  he  could  dictate 
the  faith  of  both  parties  ;  predicted,  that  "  what  all  would 
impugn  and  none  defend"  must  soon  fall ;  and  in  the  mean 
time,  with  consummate  artifice,  affecting  to  believe  that 
Charles,  as  a  secular  prince,  was  not  pretending  to  prescribe 
articles  to  the  faithful,  to  which  they  were  to  lower  down 
their  belief,  but  only  to  the  heretics  articles  to  which  they 
must  rise  in  order  to  be  tolerated,  he  urged  an  explicit  declar- 
ation to  that  effect.  With  regard  to  the  two  points  of  the 
marriage  of  priests  and  the  giving  of  the  cup  to  the  laity,  he 
observed,  that  it  belonged  only  to  himself  to  grant  dispensa- 
tions to  that  effect ;  that,  "  if  the  emperor  took  upon  him  to 
allow  them  as  lawful,  he  would  grievously  offend  Almighty 
God  ;  but  that,  holding  them  unlavvful,  he  might  yet  permit 
them  to  the  heretics  as  the  less  of  two  evils." t 

The  emperor  having  consulted  with  the  ecclesiastical 
electors,  corrected  the  book  as  he  judged  fit,  and  proposed 
it  in  the  diet,  March  15,  154S  ;  when,  either  by  previous 
concert  with  the  emperor,  or  of  his  own  instance,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mentz,  the  premier  elector,  rising  up  immediately 
after  it  had  been  read,  and  before  any  of  the  members  had 
the  opportunity  of  expressing  their  sentiments  upon  it, 
returned  thanks  to  the  emperor,  in  the  name  of  the  diet,  for 

*  We  trace  with  pain  the  declension,  if  not  even  defection  of  Joachim 
Elector  of  Brandenburg:  and  our  pain  is  not  alleviated  by  discovering 
that  there  were  interested  motives  which  might  lead  to  it.  He  sought  to 
have  his  son  admitted  under  the  sanction  of  the  emperor  and  the  pope 
to  the  Archbishopric  of  Magdeburg,  to  which  he  had  been  elected  by  the 
chapter.  How  great  is  the  danger  arising  from  "  loving  this  present 
world  !"  How  great  also  the  folly  of  so  doing !  The  elector  sncceeded 
in  the  object  of  his  ambition— but  his  son  scarcely  survived  his  fall 
admission  to  his  new  digoitv. 
1-  Father  Paul. 


THE  INTERIM.  233 

his  paternal  and  provident  care  for  them  in  the  important 
matter  of  religion  and  the  peace  of  the  empire.  Every  one 
was  astonished,  but  no  one  ventured  to  express  his  surprise  : 
to  so  servile  a  state  were  the  princes  of  Germany  reduced  ! 
and  the  emperor  alfecting  to  consider  the  archbishop's 
address  as  the  ratification  of  the  diet,  closed  the  business, 
and  enrolled  the  Interim  among  the  solemn  decrees  of  the 
empire. 

The  Interim  met  with  the  fate  it  deserved,  afid  which 
might  have  been  anticipated.  "  It  was  rather  rejected  by 
all,"  says  F.  Paul,  "  than  accepted  by  any  :  and  that  did 
follow  which  doth  ordinarily  happen  to  him  that  would 
unite  contrary  opinions — he  maketh  both  parties  agree  to 
impugn  his  sentiments,  and  each  man  obstinate  in  maintain- 
ing his  own." 

The  emperor,  however,  spared  no  pains  to  procure  or 
enforce  an  external  compliance  with  it.  Among  the  Protest- 
ant princes,  we  regret  to  state  that  Joachim  of  Branden- 
burg, and  Frederic  Elector  Palatine  made  no  scruple  of 
receiving  it.  XJlric  of  Wiirtemburg,  also,  whose  country 
was  filled  with  Spanish  garrisons,  acquiesced  in  it.  Maurice 
of  Saxony,  contrary  to  what  is  frequentl}'^  stated,  never  gave 
an  unconditional  assent  to  the  Interim,  nor  ever  established 
it  in  his  country.  He  told  the  emperor  that  he  could  not  do 
it  consistently  with  his  express  engagements  to  his  subjects  ; 
and  he  pleaded  Charles's  own  promises  relative  to  religion. 
Immediately  after  it  had  passed  the  diet  he  left  Augsburg, 
and  called  an  asseml)ly  of  his  states  to  communicate  to  them 
what  had  taken  place,  and  to  consider  how  far  they  could 
concur  in  it.  After  repeated  meetings,  wherein  the  question 
of  submission  to  authority  in  things  indifferent,  which  sub- 
sequently produced  very  serious  controversies,  was  first 
moved,  a  form  of  religion  for  his  territories  was  agreed  upon 
at  Leipzig.* — There  were  not  wanting,  however,  princes  who 


*  Dr.  Robertson  has  here  given  currency  to  a  very  erroneous  statement 
of  Maurice's  conduct  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He  says,  "  As  he  knew 
Charles  to  be  inflexible  with  regard  to  the  submission  which  he  required 
Jo  the  Interim,  he  did  not  hesitate  one  moment  whether  he  shouht, 
establish  that  form  of  doctrine  and  worship  in  his  dominions."  And  he 
makes  the  assembly  of  the  states  of  Saxony  at  Leipzig,  to  be  held  for  the 
purpose  simply  of  "  laying  the  Interim  before  them,  together  with  the 
reasons  which  made  it  necessary  to  conform  to  it,"  and  thus  "  rendering 
U2 


234  PERSECUTIONS. 

though  possessed  of  very  inferior  power,  made  a  manly  and 
honourable  stand  against  the  emperor's  impositions.  Among 
these  John  Marquis  of  Brandenburg-Anspach,*  brother  to 
the  elector,  and  Wolfgang  Duke  of  Deuxponts,  of  the 
Palatine  family,  are  distinguished. — The  successful  firm- 
ness of  Count  Henneberg  has  been  before  related. — John 
of  Brandenburg,  partly  from  resentment  at  the  treatment 
which  Henry  of  Brunswick,  his  father-in-law,  had  met  with 
from  the  Protestants,  had  joined  the  emperor  in  the  war. 
He  now  pleaded  with  him  his  services;  v  the  reliance  he  had 
placed  on  Charles's  promises  concerning  religion  ;  the  in- 
formality of  the  decree  establishing  the  Interim  ;  and  his 
inability  conscientiously  to  comply  with  it ;  and  so  pertina^ 
ciously  did  he  adhere  to  these  points,  that  the  emperor 
seeing  he  was  not  to  be  wrought  upon,  bade  him  begone  from 
Augsburg,  fearing  that  he  would  influence  others  also.  He 
accordingly  departed  immediately,  and  m.ade  no  alteration 
of  religion  within  his  territories. — The  Duke  of  Deuxponts 
being  frequently  pressed  upon  the  subject,  frankly  told  the 
emperor,  "  That  he  had  hitherto  known  no  religion  but 
that  in  which  he  was  brought  up  ;  that  he  had  examined  it, 
and  was  convinced  of  its  accordance  with  the  Word  of  God  ; 
that  he  should  wound  his  conscience,  and  risk  the  safety  of 
his  soul,  if  he  consented  to  all  parts  of  the  Interim  ;  that 
the  same  was  the  opinion  of  his  divines  ;  and  that  he  could 
not  think  of  compelling  them  to  go  contrary  to  their  con- 
sciences." Here  too  a  bold  and  faithful  avowal  of  principle 
was  crowned  with  success,  and  no  farther  engagement 
appears  to  have  been  exacted  of  the  duke,  than  that  he 
would  conform  as  far  as  he  conscientiously  could. — The 
sons  and  the  subjects  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  appear  also 
to  have  successfully  refused  the  Interim. 

But  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  free  cities  that  the  emperor's 
tyranny  was  especially  exerted.  In  them  the  doctrines  of 
the  reformation  had  taken  the  deepest  root.  In  them  also, 
by  the  constitution  of  their  government,  principles  of  liberty 
obnoxious   to  one  who  aspired  at  absolute  monarchy  were 

their  obedience  a  voluntary  deed  of  their  own."    In  the  same  paragraph 
he  also  very  injuriously  misrepresents  the  conduct  of  Melancthon,  who, 
as  we  shall  see,  while  he  concurred  in  the  formulary  of  Leipzig,  would 
hold  no  terms  with  the  Interim. 
*  See  p.,100. 


PERSECUTIONS.  235 

most  prevalent.  Could  they  have  united  their  counsels  and 
their  resources,  they  might  have  made  their  wishes  to  be 
respected  :  but  their  dispersed  situation  rendered  this  im- 
practicable, and  Charles  determined  to  put  down  opposition 
in  each  of  them  separately,  before  combination  could  be 
attempted  among  them.  Hence  Augsburg,  Ulm,  Halle  in 
Suabia,  with  Strasburg,  Constance,  and  other  cities,  suffered 
great  oppression.  In  Augsburg,  being  master  of  every 
thing,  he  abolished  the  existing  form  of  government ;  dis- 
solved all  the  corporations  and  fraternities  ;  and  displaced 
the  magistrates,  substituting  for  them  creatures  of  his  own, 
each  of  whom  was  sworn  to  observe  the  Interim.  He  next 
proceeded  to  Ulm,  and  besides  effecting  like  changes  there, 
carried  off  in  chains  Martin  Frecht,  and  such  others  of  the 
ministers  as  refused  to  comply  with  his  enactments.  These 
examples  produced  their  effect  in  procuring  the  submission 
of  the  neighbouring  cities  ;  in  consequence  of  which  most 
of  the  Protestant  ministers  were  compelled  to  quit  their 
stations.  Suabia,  which  was  occupied  in  every  part  by 
Spanish  troops,  suffered  most  severely.  ''  We  hear,"  says 
Melancthon,  "  of  dreadful  devastation  in  some  of  the 
churches.  In  Suabia  and  on  the  Rhine  more  than  four  hun- 
dred pastors  have  been  expelled,  and  some  of  them  murdered. 
Every  species  of  violence  is  committed.  The  churches  are 
shut  up,  and  there  is  no  one  left  even  to  baptize  the  chil- 
dren. At  Tiibingen  (in  Wiirtemberg)  all  the  pastors  and 
preachers  are  driven  away,  and  only  one  priest  left ;  who, 
in  compliance  with  the  directions  of  the  Interim,  has  restored 
the  mass.  Such  is  the  golden  age  which  Agricola  and  his 
coadjutors  promised  us  !"  "  The  city  of  Ratisbon  entreated 
the  emperor  that  their  church  might  not  be  disturbed.  He 
answered  by  expelling  in  one  day  seven  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  and  closing  the  sacred  edifices." 

Strasburg,  which  had  been  under  the  necessity  of  sub- 
mitting to  the  emperor's  authority  one  month  only  before 
the  battle  of  Muhlberg,  now  distinguished  itself  by  a  noble, 
and  not  altogether  unsuccessful,  opposition  to  his  dictates 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  The  senate  pleaded  against  the 
reception  of  the  Interim  in  a  manner  which  ought  to  have 
commended  itself  at  once  to  the  understanding  and  the  heart 
of  every  reasonable  being.     They  urged  that  they  desired 


236  PERSECUTIONS. 

nothing  so  much  as  to  gratify  the  emperor,  but  that  to  com- 
ply in  this  instance  would  be  to  do  violence  to  their  con- 
sciences, to  offend  Almighty  God,  and  to  endanger  their  sal- 
vation. They  entreated  him  therefore,  that  he  would  not,  in 
a  case  which  concerned  not  lands  and  goods,  of  any  earthly 
matter,  but  their  everlasting  w'ell-being,  compel  them  "  to 
say  with  their  mouths  what  their  hearts  did  not  think  ;" 
that  this  was  contrary  to  all  the  hopes  which  he  himself  had 
held  out  to  them,  and  to  the  constant  reference  which  had 
been  made  by  all  preceding  diets  of  such  questions  to  a 
general  and  free  council. 

How  just  and  striking  is  the  description  here  given,  in 
few  words,  of  the  only  object  which  persecution  can  ever 
hope  to  accomplish — to  make  men  "  say  with  their  mouths 
what  their  hearts  do  not  think."  How  infotuated  the  mind 
which  can  pursue  so  worthless  an  object  at  such  a  cost  I 
And  how  detestably  cruel  ancfdiabolical  to  exact  this  of  our 
fellow-men,  in  despite  of  all  the  arguments  and  entreaties 
they  can  use,  when  to  their  own  apprehension,  at  least, 
their  "  everlasting  welfare"  depends  upon'  their  refusal  ; 
and  when  no  rational  being,  however  strong  his  own  per- 
suasion on  the  other  side  may  be,  can  ever  imagine  it  pos- 
sible, that  their  salvation  should  be  promoted  by  such  a 
constrained  and  merely  external  compliance  as  he  can 
exact. 

Still,  however,  the  heartless  trampler  on  all  rights  human 
and  divine  had  no  other  answer  to  return  to  this  forcible 
appeal  of  the"  senate  of  Strasburg  than  this,  "  That  they 
must  comply  or  take  the  consequences."  But  they  were 
not  to  be  silenced  :  they  persevered  in  entreaty  and  expos- 
tulation, till  at  length  the  emperor  told  them  that  they  might 
settle  the  affair  with  their  bishop :  and  with  him,  after 
immense  difficulty,  they  did  so  far  succeed  as  to  establish  a 
compromise,  by  which  they  ceded  three  of  their  churches, 
and  retained  the  rest,  with  their  own  ministers  to  officiate 
in  them. — It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  struggles  at  Stras- 
burg that  Bucer  and  Paul  Fagius  retired  from  the  scene, 
and  accepted  the  invitation  which  Cranmer  had  given  them 
to  remove  into  England. 

The  city  of  Constance  was  less  fortunate.  It  had  never 
yet  made  its  peace  with  the  emperor  for  the  part  it  had 
taken  in  the   late  contest.     When,  therefore,   its   senate 


STATE    OF    RELIGION.  237 

pleaded  in  the  same  way  with  that  of  Strasburg  against  the 
Interim,  he  despatched  a  body  of  Spanish  troops  to  surprise 
the  city  ;  but  these  having  failed  in  the  attempt,  he  put  the 
place  to  the  ban  of  the  empire,  and  not  only  reduced  it  to 
receive  the  Interim,  but  deprived  it  of  its  privileges  as  a  free 
city,  and  subjected  it  henceforward  to  the  house  of  Austria. 
Its  ministers  were  compelled  to  quit  the  place. 

The  reflections  of  Melancthon  and  his  friends  in  the 
midst  of  these  scenes  are  such  as  we  might  have  expected 
from  their  piety  and  wisdom.  "  The  dangers  of  the  church," 
says  that  excellent  man,  in  a  letter  in  which  he  notices  the 
death  of  his  valued  friend  Cruciger  on  the  first  of  Decem- 
ber, 1548,  "  are  such  that  we  evidently  cannot  be  saved  by 
human  intervention.  Indeed  all  human  protection  is  with- 
drawn. Nothing  remains  for  us  but  a  pious  confession  of 
the  truth  by  individuals,  and  earnest  prayers  to  Almighty 
God." 

The  scenes  which  we  have  been  reviewing  are  melan- 
choly ;  and  the  face  of  Germany  was,  no  doubt,  for  the 
present  changed  for  the  worse  by  the  event  of  the  war  ;  yet, 
still  the  change  would  be  greater  in  appearance  than  in 
reality.  The  deposition  of  John  Frederic,  indeed,  and  the 
substitution  of  such  a  prince  as  Maurice  in  his  place,  was  a 
serious  loss  to  the  cause  of  true  religion  :  and  it  is  grievous 
to  find  in  the  tergiversation,  or  the  temporizing  policy,  of 
Joachim  of  Brandenburg,  Frederic  Elector  Palatine,  and 
others,  that  the  best  days  of  religion  among  persons  of  that 
rank  in  Germany  were  past!  Yet  still  we  may  feel  assured, 
that,  as  previously  more  religion  would  appear  on  the  page 
of  history  than  really  existed,  so  now  more  would  exist  than 
openly  appeared.  While  no  great  sacrifices  were  actually  to 
be  made,  and  the  temporal  privileges  of  princes  were  asserted 
in  contending  for  their  religious  ones,  many  were  ready  to 
take  that  side,  who  failed,  or  even  proved  themselves  unsound 
in  the  day  of  trial.  We  have  seen  also  in  repeated  instances, 
what  heavy  complaints  the  pious  reformers  made  of  the 
inconsistent  conduct  of  numbers  who  professed  the  Pro- 
testant faith.*     No  doubt  the  church  needed  to  be   sifted 

*  Let  the  insults  which  Roman  Catholics  never  cease  to  offer  to  Prot- 
eatants  on  this  ground,  be  checked  by  the  testimony  of  one  of  their  own 


238  STATE    OF    RELIGION. 

and  purified.  As  our  own  Archbishop  Cranmer  remarked 
on  this  very  occasion  for  the  warning  of  his  countrymen: 
*' In  Germany,  although  the  gospel  had  shed  its  glorious 
light,  yet  a  large  proportion  of  such  as  were  within  reach 
of  its  beams  had  refused  to  reform  their  lives  according  to 
its  direction.  Hence,  it  is  said,  have  these  unrepenting 
converts  been  delivered  over  to  imperial  and  papal  oppres- 
sion." Still,  however,  there  were  found  persons  even  in 
the  highest  class  of  society,  who  stood  firm,  and  made  a 
fiiithfal  protest.  Whole  senates  contended  for  the  truth, 
and  numerous  pious  ministers  and  others  patiently  suffered 
for  it :  and,  even  where  corrupt  doctrines  and  superstitious 
rites  were  publicly  enforced,  the  sentiments  of  the  people 
remained  unaltered.  The  rending  asunder  of  the  endeared 
connexion  between  faithful  pastors  and  their  flocks,  wherever 
it  took  place,  was  a  mournful  event :  j^et  thousands,  thus 
deprived  of  public  ordinances  in  which  they  could  conscien- 
tiously join,  would  worship  God  even  with  increased  devout- 
ness  in  private.  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his," 
although  the  histories  of  the  church  no  longer  notice  them. 
Such  persons  in  these  troublous  times  would  "  speak  often 
one  to  another  ;"  and  "  a  book  of  remembrance  would  be 
written  before  him"  in  their  favour  :  and  for  their  sakes  we 
may  conclude,  was  that  happy  revolution  vouchsafed  (as 
surprising  as  any  on  record),  wliich  we  shall  have  to  relate 
in  the  next  chapter.  "  The  rod  of  the  wicked  shall  not  rest 
on  the  lot  of  the  righteous,"  so  as  to  cause  them  to  be 
*'  tempted  above  that  they  are  able ;"  but  "  with  every 
temptation  a  way  to  escape"  shall  be  provided  for  them, 
*'  that  they  may  be  able  to  bear  it." 

After  settling  in  this  manner  the  affairs  of  Germany,  the 
emperor  proceeded,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1548,  to  visit 
his  hereditary  dominions  in  tlie  Netherlands, — to  receive 
there  his  son  Philip  from  Spain,  and  to  introduce  the  young 
prince  to  the  homage  of  his  future  subjects.     Here  he  was 


party.  The  Bishop  of  AUfi.  preaching  before  the  council  of  Trent  in  its 
twenty-third  session,  "spake  of  the  faith  and  manners  of  the  heretics 
and  Catholics,  and  said,  that  '  as  the  faith  of  ttie  Catholics  was  better, 
flo  the  heretics  did  exceed  them  bi  good  life ;''  which  did  giveniuch  dis- 
taste, especially  to  those  who  remembered  the  saying  of  our  Saviour  and 
of  St.  James,  that  faith  is  not  showed  but  by  works."— F.  Paul. 


CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON.  239 

labouring,  though  happily  his  efforts  were  defeated,  to  es- 
toblish  the  Inquisition  ;  and,  on  quitting  the  country  in  the 
following  spring,  he  left  behind  him  a  most  detestable  per- 
secuting edict,  which  was  immediately  published  in  both  the 
Flemish  and  French  languages.  Happily  it  was  found  that 
this  edict,  if  carried  into  effect,  would  prove  ruinous  to  the 
interests  of  a  trading  country :  and  on  this  ground  chiefly, 
or  even  solely,  it  was  for  that  time  superseded  by  Mary  of 
Austria,  the  emperor's  sister,  who  governed  the  country  in 
his  name ;  and  afterward,  on  her  representation,  it  was 
somewhat  moderated  by  Charles  himself.*  It  may  be  re- 
membered, however,  to  our  comfort,  that  this  very  period 
of  the  threatened  suppression  of  Protestantism  on  the  con- 
tinent was  that  of  its  triumph,  under  Edward  VI.,  in 
England.  .  -         ' 

But  the  reader  will  naturally  desire  to  learn  what,  amid 
these  changing  and  turbulent  scenes,  were  the  conduct  and 
fate  of  Meiancthon — the  most  interesting  character,  after 
Luther  was  removed,  that  Germany  could  boast.  What 
were  his  feelings  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  has  been 
already  shown  from  his  private  correspondence.  When  the 
war  was  carried  into  Saxony  by  Maurice's  invasion  of  that 
country,  in  the  autumn  of  1546,  the  university  of  Wittem- 
berg  was  dispersed  ;  and  Meiancthon,  in  common  with 
many  other  learned  and  pious  men,  was  driven  out  to  seek 
a  retreat  where  he  might  be  able  to  find  it.  Zerbst,  in  the 
principality  of  Anhalt,  was  the  place  at  which  he  chiefly 
passed  his  time,  under  the  anxious  protection  of  the  princes 
of  that  house  :  but,  as  soon  as  the  war  was  terminated,  he 
embraced  the  earliest  opportunity  of  returnhig  to  Wittem- 
berg,  and  preferred  continuing  there  to  either  accepting  the 
offers  made  him  by  Maurice  of  an  advantageous  settlement 
in  the  university  of  Leipzig,  or  joining  the  new  establish- 
ment of  the  sons  of  John  Frederic  at  Jena.  Maurice  sent 
for  Meiancthon,  Bugenhagen,  and  Cruciger,  treated  them 
with  kindness,  and  committed  to  them  the  administration 
of  the  affairs  both  of  the  church  and  the  university  ;  assigned 

*  Father  Paul  states,  that  in  the  Low  Countries,  "  from  the  first  edict 
of  Ciarles  V."  to  the  peace  of  1558,  "  there  were  hanged,  beheaded, 
buried  alive,  and  burned,  to  the  number  of  50,000,"  for  their  religion. 


240  CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON. 

them  salaries,  and  desired  them  to  proceed  as  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  do. 

On  such  conditions  they  thankfully  accepted  his  proposals : 
and  to  some  who  objected  to  their  conduct,  Melancthon  re- 
plied, *'I  have  come  hither,  not  to  join  the  party  of  our 
enemies,  but  to  succour  a  mourning  church." 

In  every  thing  that  concerned  religion  Melancthon  was 
consulted  by  Maurice.  In  the  year  1548,  that  prince  held 
no  less  than  eight  conventions  of  his  states  on  the  subject, 
and  three  in  the  year  following ;  at  all  of  which,  except  the 
first,  and  a  private  meeting  of  the  princes,  where  certain 
articles  were  sanctioned,  Melancthon  was  present,  and  drew 
up  most  of  the  papers  which  were  adopted  or  considered  in 
them.  He  incurred,  it  is  true,  much  censure  for  the  con- 
cessions here  made ;  and,  from  the  manner  in  which  his 
conduct  is  generally  spoken  of,  it  would  be  inferred  that  he 
had  been  induced  actually  to  countenance  the  Interim,* 
But  so  far  was  this  from  being  the  case,  that  I  should  rather 
affirm  his  opposition  to  that  formulary  to  have  been  heroic, 
both  when  it  was  previously  submitted  to  his  examination, 
and  after  it  was  adopted  and  published  by  authority.  To 
this  the  numerous  papers  relative  to  it,  written  by  him  in 
conjunction  with  his  colleagues,  bear  ample  testimony.  Of 
these  papers  some  are  private,  for  his  own  use  ;  some,  let- 
ters to  friends,  or  lo  learned  and  religious  bodies  ;  some, 
formal  memorials  to  Maurice  and  his  ministers,  and  other 
persons  in  authority  :  some  are  in  his  own  name  alone,  and 
some  are  signed  jointly  by  him  and  one  or  more  of  his  friends 
and  coadjutors,  Bugenhagen,  Cruciger,  Major,  Pfeffinger, 
and  Froschelius  :  some  are  brief,  while  some  follow  the  In- 
terim from  article  to  article,  passing  the  just  censure  upon 
each.  A  spirit  of  combined  firmness  and  moderation  per- 
vades them.  They  avow  a  readiness  on  the  part  of  those 
whose  signatures  they  bear  to  concur  in  any  thing  tolerable, 
where  ritual  matters  only  were  concerned,  and  advise  the 
elector  not  to  make  a  stand  on  some  things  which  it  might 
yet  have  been  wished  had  been  different :  but  on  all  the 
great  points  at  issue — on  justification,  on  the  invocation  of 
saints,  on  the  necessity  of  the  particular  confession  of  sins 

*  See  Robertson,  iv.  14,  1-5.  The  reference  to  this  passage  is  thus 
made  in  Robertson's  index,  under  the  name  of  Melancthon  : — "  Is  pre- 
vailed on  to  favour  the  Interim  I"    See  note,  p.  233. 


CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON.  241 

to  man  in  order  to  the  pardon  of  them  by  God,  on  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass,  private  masses,  and  masses  for  the  dead — 
on  all  these  and  other  topics  they  declare  that  the  writers 
can  never  acquiesce  in  what  the  book  prescribes  ;  and  that 
they  will  suffer  banishment,  imprisonment,  or  death  rather 
than  ever  consent  to  it.  From  the  first,  Melancthon  de- 
nounced the  idea  of  establishing  such  a  formulary  by  law, 
as  "  an  infatuated  project,"  which  would  multiply,  instead 
of  healing  divisions  ;  nay,  would  fill  the  country  with  insur- 
rections and  tumults :  the  very  stones,  he  said,  would  cry 
out  against  it ;  it  would  disgrace  the  German  churches  in 
the  eyes  of  all  the  world,  and  could  never  be  supported  but 
by  manifest  tyranny  and  unrelenting  persecution.  He  im- 
plores Almighty  God,  therefore,  that  such  pernicious  coun- 
sels might  never  be  adopted.  In  short,  his  opposition  to  it 
was  so  loud  and  vehement  that  the  emperor,  regarding  him 
as  the  most  formidable  individual  adversary  that  he  had  to 
encounter,  ordered  him  to  be  seized  and  delivered  up  to  him, 
as  "  an  enemy  of  the  public  peace."  He  was  screened, 
however,  by  Maurice,  who  appears  to  have  secreted  him  for 
some  time  in  a  monastery  at  Zell  on  the  Muldaw,  as  the 
Elector  Frederic  had  done  Luther  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg. 
But,  as  far  as  his  own  private  dangers  were  concerned,  Me- 
lancthon was  unmoved  amid  the  storm.  "  If!  am  called  upon 
to  answer,"  he  writes  to  Camerarius,  "  though  I  find  that 
the  emperor  is  enraged  against  me,  I  shall  simply  say  that  I 
cannot  assent  to  such  delusions.     And  I  will  not  assent  to 

them I  will  do  to  the   end  as   I  have  hitherto  done. 

Wherever  I  go  I  will  express  the  sam.e  sentiments ;  I  will 
aim  to  carry  about  with  me  a  heart  lifted  up  to  God  ;  and  I 
will  yet  retain  my  wonted  moderation,  and  avoid  exciting 
seditions."  The  closing  sentence  will  be  better  understood 
when  it  has  been  seen  how  the  writer  was  assailed  by  men 
of  his  ow^n  party,  for  whom  he  did  not  go  far  enough,  as 
well  as  by  those  of  the-  opposite  party,  for  whom  he  went 
much  too  far. 

But  the  point  on  which  Melancthon  especially  gave  dis- 
satisfaction and  offence  to  many  of  his  brethren  (who  after- 
ward affected  the  name  of  gemmie  Lutherans)  was  his 
maintaining  that  in  things  purely  indifferent  it  was  lawful, 
even  in  matters  of  religion,  to  submit  to  the  commands  of  an 
earthly  superior.     The  difficulties  attending  this  position, 

Voi..n.-x 


242  CONDUCT    OF    MELAXCTHON. 

and  the  abuse  to  which  it  may  be  liable,  from  the  latitude 
with  which  the  term  indifferent  may  be  interpreted,  are  ob- 
vious :  they  gave  rise  at  this  time  to  a  fierce  controversy  in 
Germany,  characterized  by  the  appellation  adiajphoristic,  or 
indifferenlial.  The  spirit  manifested  by  Melancthon's  op- 
ponents will  now  be  universally  condemned.  "  Rather  than 
yield  submission,"  exclaimed  Flacius  of  Magdeburg,  "we 
ought  to  see  the  churches  desolated,  and  to  terrify  our  rulers 
with  the  dread  of  insurrections."  With  a  great  majority  of 
readers  the  question  of  interest  will  relate  rather  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  Melancthon  carried  his  concessions  under  the 
name  of  conformity  in  things  indifferent,  than  to  the  prin- 
ciple itself  which  he  thus  admitted.  The  current  repre- 
sentation, or  rather  misrepresentation,  of  modern  writers 
may  be  given  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Robertson :  "  Many  of 
the  Protestant  ecclesiastics  whom  Maurice  consulted,  pro- 
ceeded to  class  among  the  number  of  things  indifferent, 
several  doctrines  which  Luther  had  pointed  out  as  gross 
and  pernicious  errors  in  the  Romish  creed  ;  and,  placing  in 
the  same  rank  many  of  those  rites  which  distinguished  the 
reformed  from  the  popish  worship,  they  exhorted  their  people 
to  comply  with  the  emperor's  injunctions  concerning  these 
particulars." 

The  representations  of  Mosheim,  particularly  as  exagger- 
ated in  the  translation  and  notes  of  Maclaine,  are  still  more 
grossly  injurious.  "  The  natural  temper  of  Melancthon 
was  soft  and  flexible  ;  his  love  of  peace  almost  excessive  ; 
and  his  apprehensions  of  the  displeasure  and  resentment  of 
men  in  power  were  such  as  betrayed  a  pusillanimous  spirit.* 
....  His  sentiments  on  some  points  of  no  inconsiderable 
moment  were  entirely  different  from  those  of  Luther.  . . . 

*  Dr.  Mosheim  has  elsewhere  spoken  of  Melancthon  in  much  more  just 
and  worthy  terms.  "  His  Immane  and  gentle  spirit  was  apt  to  sink  into 
akind  of  yielding  softness  imder  tlie  inflJience  of  mild  and  generous  treat- 
ment. And,  accordingly,  while  his  adversaries  sootlied  him  with  fair 
words  and  flattering  promises,  he  seemed  to  melt  as  they  spoke,  and  in 
some  measure  to  comply  will)  tiieir  demands  ;  but  when  they  so  far  forgot 
themselves  as  to  make  use  of  imperious  language  and  menacing  terms, 
then  did  Melancthon  appear  in  a  very  diflferent  point  of  light ;  then  a 
spirit  of  intrepidity,  ardour,  and  independence  animated  all  his  words 
and  actions,  and  he  looked  down  with  contempt  on  the  threats  of  power, 
the  favours  of  fortune,  and  the  fear  of  death.  The  truth  is,  that  in  this 
great  and  good  man,  a  sofl  and  yielding  temper  was  joined  with  the 
most  inviolable  fidelity,  and  the  most  invincible  attachment  to  the 
truth.'' 


CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON.  243 

The  ideas  of  the  latter  concerning  faith  as  the  only  cause 
of  salvation,  concerning  the  necessity  of  good  works  to  our 
final  happiness,"  &c.,  were  among  those  on  which  Melanc- 
thon  ditfered  from  him.  Again  :  though  Melancthon  "  did 
not  entirely  conceal  his  sentiments  during  the  life  of  Luther, 
he  delivered  them,  nevertheless,  with  great  circumspection 
and  modesty,  yielding  always  to  the  authority  of  his  col- 
league, for  whom  he  had  a  sincere  friendship,  and  of  whom 
also  he  stood  in  awe.  But  no  sooner  were  the  eyes  of 
Luther  closed,  than  he  inculcated,  with  the  greatest  plain- 
ness and  freedom,  what  he  had  before  only  hinted  at  with 
timorousness  and  caution."  Maclaine  makes  his  author  to 
add,  that,  "  by  the  counsel  and  influence  of  Melancthon 
every  thing  relating  to  the  Interim  had  been  conducted."* 
— Yet  further  :  "  In  the  class  of  matters  indifferent,  this 
great  man  and  his  associates  placed  many  things  which  had 
appeared  of  the  highest  importance  to  Luther.  .  .  .  For  he 
regarded  as  such  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone, 
the  necessity  of  good  works  to  eternal  salvation,  the  number 
of  the  sacraments,"  &c.t 

The  great  injustice  of  these  charges  may  be  inferred  from 
what  has  been  already  stated.  The  minute  investigation 
of  the  subject  (for  which  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  an- 
other place)t  would  more  fully  establish  the  fact.  But 
here  our  proofs  must  necessarily  be  brief.  The  article  of 
the  Interim  concerning  justification,  Melancthon  and  his 
friends  affirmed,  subverted  the  very  foundations  of  true  doc- 
trine. It  taught,  "  that  faith  is  only  our  preparation  for 
justification  :  that  love  follows,  and  by  it  a  man  is  (made) 
righteous,"  or  justified.  "This,"  say  they,  "  is  all  one 
with  making  us  righteous  for  the  sake  of  our  own  works 
and  virtues  :  and  thus  the  light  of  the  true  doctrine,  that  a 

*  I  had  formed  conjectures  as  to  the  sense  in  whirh  this  could,  by  any 
possibility  be  meant ;  but  tliey  are  superfluous,  for  Mosheim  here  makes 
no  mention  of  the  Interim  !  The  words  are  inserted  by  the  translator, 
who  in  ttie  other  passages  goes  (as  he  very  frequently  does)  beyond  the 
original. 

t  Calvin,  along  with  others,  was  drawn  in  to  censure  Melancthon  as 
to  the  particulars  which  he  admitted  into  the  list  of  "  things  indifferent :" 
but  it  is  clear  that  he  did  it  chiefly  on  the  report  of  others,  and  Beza  tells 
us  Calvin  afterward  found  ttiat  tie  had  been  misinformed.  Indeed  his 
own  principles  and  practice  appear  to  have  differed  little  from  those  of 
Melancthon  upon  this  sutiject.  See  Continuation  of  Milner,  ii.  p.  49,  50, 
jandiii.  p.  353,354,  392-395. 

X  Continuation  of  Milner,  ii.  p.  48-71,  and  preface,  p.  xv-jvii. 


244  CONDUCT    OF   MELANCTHON. 

man  is  accounted  righteous,  and  accepted  of  God,  only  for 
the  sake  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  faith,  is  extinguished, 
and  the  darkness  and  errors  of  past  ages  are  introduced 
again."  "St.  Paul's  words,  'V/e  are  justified  by  faith,' 
are  here  made  to  mean,  By  faith  we  are  prepared  to  receive 
somewhat  else  whereby  we  are  justified.  Thus  is  a  man  led 
away  from  Christ,  to  reliance  on  himself,  and  deprived  of 
the  consolation  provided  for  him  in  the  Son  of  God."  They 
readily  admit,  indeed,  that  penitence,  love,  and  other  graces 
must  coexist  with  faith,  and  obedience  follow  in  the  justi- 
fied man,  yet  not  these  things  but  his  faith  in  Christ,  or  re- 
liance on  him  alone,  justifies  him.  "  It  is  no  strife  of  words, 
therefore,"  they  contend,  "to  say,  that  by  faith  only  we  are 
justified.  Other  virtues  must  be  in  us,  but  we  place  not 
our  confidence  in  them  (for  they  are  all  weak  and  imper- 
fect), but  only  in  the  Son  of  God." 

The  necessity  of  this  doctrine  they  feelingly  and  beauti- 
fully trace  out.  "  This  is  the  immutable  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel, plain  and  easy  to  be  understood,  and  necessary  to  be 
kept  constantly  in  view  in  all  our  attempts  to  approach 
unto  God.  When  you  pray,  it  will  not  prove  sufficient  for  you 
to  look  into  yourself,  and  require  the  existence  of  love  and 
other  virtues  (though  they  must  exist  there) ;  but,  besides 
these  feeble  and  imperfect  graces,  we  must  possess  this 
true  consolation,  namely,  an  affiance  in  the  Mediator,  and  a 
belief  that  God  is  assuredly  ready  to  accept  us,  and  to  hear 
our  cries  and  groans,  and  not  to  reject  us.  And  this  con- 
fidence must  be  rested  on  the  Son  of  God,  and  not  on  our 
own  holiness  and  Christian  graces.  All  our  virtues  in  this 
life  are  weak  and  imperfect,  and  much  evil  and  corruption 
remain  in  our  hearts.  We  must  needs  therefore  fly  to  the 
Mediator,  lay  hold  on  him,  and  seek  grace  and  mercy 
through  him. — We  are  filled  with  horror  at  the  view  of  the 
greatness  of  our  own  sins  and  miseries,  and  therefore  are 
compelled,  when  we  would  find  peace  of  mind,  to  fly  to  the 
one  only  Propitiator,  whom  God  in  infinite  mercy  and  wisdom 
hath  proposed  to  us:  ana  then,  as  the  apostle  testifies, 
♦  Being  justified  by  faith  we  have  peace  with  God.'  " 

And  this  doctrine  they  affirm  "  had  not  at  any  time 
been  wholly  lost ;  though  the  devil,  from  the  very  time  of 
Adam's  fall  and  recovery,  had  never  relaxed  his  efibrts  to 
suppress  it.  Even  when  most  obscured,  it  was  yet  to  be 
traced  in  the  experience,  the  spiritual  exercises,  of  all  pious 


CONDUCT  OF  MELANCTHON.  245 

Kumble  minds.  In  the  Protestant  churches  it  was  now  so 
thoroughly  known  and  received,  that  the  errors  of  the  In- 
terim would  be  readily  detected,  and  scarcely  an  individual 
would  be  found  to  listen  to  that  work." 

The  rejection  of  the  true  doctrine  by  those  who  compiled 
the  Interim  is  traced,  in  great  measure,  to  their  erroneous 
views  of  the  nature  of  faith.  They  understood  by  it  no- 
thing more  thap  a  mere  historical  assent.  Hence  they  main- 
tained that  faith  might  exist  without  love,  and  in  persons 
who  were  living  in  sin  ;  and  "  that  this  is  still  no  less  faith, 
if  only  it  acknowledge  right  doctrine."  And  hence  again, 
in  manifest  contradiction  to  the  Scriptures,  they  scarcely 
reckoned  faith  among  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  at  all. 

The  passages  which  speak  the  determination  of  the  wri- 
ter and  his  friends  to  adhere  to  the  truth,  and  to  reject  so 
insidious  a  work  as  the  Interim,  by  whatever  power  im- 
posed, are  numerous  and  striking.  "  To  renounce  the 
truth  of  the  gospel,  after  having  clearly  known  it,  and  to 
join  ourselves  with  those  who  persecute  it,  would  amount 
to  the  unpardonable  sin  :  in  which  may  God  mercifully  pre- 
vent our  ever  involving  ourselves  !  And,  though  wars  and 
desolation  be  threatened  in  case  we  refuse,  we  ought  to 
make  more  account  of  the  commandment  of  God  than  of 
all  such  evils."  "  As  no  creature  either  in  heaven  or 
earth  can  change  the  wondrous  counsel  of  God  revealed 
in  the  gospel,  so,  by  his  help,  we  will  still  set  forth  the 
same  doctrine  concerning  faith  and  good  works,  which  we 
have  taught  in  these  churches  for  many  years  past :  for  it 
is  most  clearly  revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  divinely 
vouchsafed  unto  us."  "  Our  sentiments  being  asked,  we 
cannot  but  deliver  them  unequivocally,  though  we  would  do 
it  with  the  meekness  and  moderation  which  become  Chris- 
tians :  and,  for  the  dangers  which  we  may  incur  by  so 
doing,  we  will  commend  ourselves  to  the  almighty  and  eter- 
nal God,  the  Father  of  our  Redeemer  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ." — Writing  singly,  Melancthon  says,  "  Never  will  I 
burden  my  conscience  by  sanctioning  this  book."  "  I  will 
by  no  means  give  my  assent  to  it,  though  I  know  there  are 
those  who  thirst  for  my  blood.  But  I  support  myself  with 
the  hope  of  Divine  protection,  and  the  comfort  of  a  good 
conscience." 

We  find  also,  in  the  wishes  and  proposals  of  Melancthon 
X3 


246  CONDUCT    OF   MELANCTHON. 

and  his  friends  at  this  time,  much  of  that  detachment  from 
worldly  and  political  views  which  characterized  the  early 
days  of  the  reformation.  They  were  willing  that  the  Prot- 
estant princes  should  act  according  to  their  own  judgment 
of  things,  and  leave  their  divines  to  follow  their  consciences, 
and  to  take  the  consequences.  Thus  they  jointly  write  to 
Maurice  :  *'  The  government  will  consider,  and  determine 
for  itself,  what  it  can  and  ought  to  do  for  the  protection  of 
the  churches.  For  ourselves,  as  individuals,  we  are  pre- 
pared, God  being  our  helper,  for  exile  or  whatever  other 
punishment  may  follow."  And  thus  to  the  divines  of  Stras- 
burg  :  "  To  all  who  have  asked  advice  of  us,  we  have  writ- 
ten uniformly,  that  we  would  recommend  the  pastors  of  the 
churches  to  keep  their  deliberations  quite  detached  from 
those  of  the  political  governors,  and  to  answer  plainly  and 
distinctly,  that  they  will  not  change  their  doctrine,  or  re- 
ceive the  new  formulary — it  being  our  part,  as  divines,  to 
detect  and  guard  against  every  corruption  of  doctrine.  But 
let  the  civil  rulers,  of  whom  many  are  ignorant  of  Chris- 
tian truth,  and  others  dislike  it,  return  the  emperor  such 
answers  as  they  think  proper.  Thus  the  pastors  deliver 
their  own  consciences,  less  change  is  made  in  the  churches, 
we  avoid  every  thing  that  can  be  deemed  seditious  or  vio- 
lent, and  we  retain  our  confession  of  faith. — The  most  up- 
right ministers  of  the  gospel  incur  unknown  odium,  when 
once  they  attempt  to  exercise  political  power.  It  belongs 
not  to  our  ministry." — To  the  same  purport  Melancthon 
wrote  to  Schnepfius  of  Tubingen,  and  to  Matthias  Luther 
Syndic  of  Nordhausen  :  and  thus  to  another  friend,  in  the 
year  1549  :  "Many  exclaim  that  peace  is  to  be  preferred 
before  our  doubtful  disputations.  But,  where  it  is  evident 
that  some  doctrines  are  corrupted  and  others  obscured,  I 
will  never  burthen  my  conscience  by  concurrence.  Let 
others  arrange  the  affairs  of  kingdoms  and  of  the  church 
as  they  will  or  as  they  can  (Christ  says, '  My  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world'),  I  will  still  speak  my  sentiments,  though  with 
moderation,  wherever  I  may  be. — If  you  may  be  allowed, 
without  expressly  approving  the  Interim,  to  preach  the 
gospel  as  you  have  hitherto  done,  and  are  not  required  to 
change  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  then  your 
conscience  is  not  burdened,  though  your  rulers  may  sanc- 
tion the  book." 


CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON.  247 

We  will  now  ofter  some  illustration  of  that  "moderation" 
of  Melancthon,  which  exposed  him  to  censure,  and  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  limited  his  concessions  concerning 
things  "  indilFerent." 

AddressinjT  Maurice  at  Aucrsburg  before  the  Interim  had 
passed  the  diet,  he  says  jointly  with  his  friends  :  "  Though 
it  may  already  sufficiently  appear  what  we  admit,  and  what 
we  are  constrained  utterly  to  condemn,  in  this  book,  yet, 
that  all  may  perceive  how  anxious  we  are  for  peace  and 
agreement,  we  will  briefly  recapitulate  the  substance  of  our 
statements.  The  blessed  doctrine  of  fiiith  we  neither  may 
nor  can  change,  nor  will  we  sanction  false  worship  in  the 
churches.  We  agree  to  observe  the  ceremonies  ordained 
pro  tempore — the  lessons,  the  hymns,  the  use  of  vestments 
and  other  ancient  and  becoming  rites  ;  as  also  the  holydays 
(or  festivals),  and  the  regulations  subservient  to  discipline 
and  useful  exercises."  They  lay  it  down,  however,  that 
nothing  which  could  be  considered  as  "  a  species  of  worship," 
was  ever  to  be  introduced  without  the  express  sanction  of 
the  Word  of  God  :  and  on  this  ground  they  reject  various 
popish  services  which  they  specify.  To  the  objection  that, 
when  changes  were  once  admitted,  it  was  impossible  to  say 
how  far  they  would  be  carried  ;  and  that  "  it  was  scandal- 
ous to  encourage  their  enemies  by  such  an  appearance  of 
yielding ;"  he  replies,  that  the}'^  had  "  sufficiently  defined 
the  things  in  which  they  could  concede  ;  and  that  submis- 
sion in  such  things,  made  for  the  sake  of  retaining  the  es- 
sential truth  of  the  gospel,  was  more  becoming  than  proudly 
to  throw  up  their  situations,  to  desert  the  churches,  and  to 
give  occasion  to  the  people  to  say,  that  by  obstinacy  in 
trifles  their  ministers  had  exposed  them  to  the  horrors  of  a 
militaiy  occupation  of  their  country."  When  it  was  fur- 
ther objected  that  such  a  submission  was  a  surrender  of 
Christian  liberty,  he  answered,  That  Christian  liberty  re- 
lated to  far  higher  things  ;  and  he  lamented  that  men  set  a 
value  on  the  unrestrained  gratification  of  their  own  wills, 
which  savoured  little  of  Christian  humility.  "The  king- 
dom of  God,"  he  says,  "  consists  in  true  faith,  prayer,  hope, 
love,  p:itience,  purity,  righteousneas  ;  and,  without  these 
inward  graces,  external  liberty  in  meats,  and  vestments,  and 
other  things  of  that  kind  is  not  Christian  liberty,  but  a  new 
kind  of  civil  polity,  only  more  agreeable  to  the  people,  be- 
cause it  lays  them  under  fewer  restraints.     We  ought  the 


248  CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTHON. 

more  meekly  to  bear  a  degree  of  servitude,  provided  it  in- 
volve nothing  contrary  to  piety,  because  we  have  certainly 
abused  the  plea  of  liberty," 

But  Melancthon's  letter  to  the  pastors  of  Hamburg,  who, 
he  observes,  were  further  removed  from  the  scene  of  danger, 
and  on  that  account  perhaps  the  more  ready  to  censure  his 
concessions,  will  give  up  the  best  view  of  the  case — of  the 
situation  of  the  Saxon  churches,  of  the  nature  of  the  con- 
cessions made,  and  of  the  Christian  meekness  with  which 
Melancthon  defended  his  own  conduct  respecting  them. 
We  shall  therefore  conclude  our  present  subject  by  laying 
a  considerable  part  of  this  letter  before  the  reader.  It  is 
dated  April  16,  1549,  and  signed  jointly  by  Bugenhagen  and 
Melancthon. 

"  Reverend  and  dear  Friends — We  feel  not  at  all  hurt  by 
your  lovingly  admonishing  and  even  reproaching  us ;  for 
these  are  necessary  duties  of  friendship,  especially  in  the 
church  of  Christ.  We  only  desire  that,  in  forming  a  judg- 
ment becoming  jowt  prudence,  your  character,  and  your 
Jiindness  for  us,  you  would  take  a  candid  view  of  our  con- 
duct, and  not  hastily  condemn  old  friends,  who  for  more 
than  twenty  years  have  sustained  great  labours  and  conflicts 
in  the  sacred  cause  of  religion First,  allow  us  to  in- 
form you,  that,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  the  same  doc- 
trine is  still  heard  in  our  churches  and  schools  as  we  have 
for  so  many  years  professed  in  common  with  you.  And,  as 
we  are  assured  that  it  is  the  eternal  truth  of  God,  and  the 
constant  doctrine  of  his  real  church,  it  is  our  determination 
paver  in  any  point  to  change  it.  For  this  very  object  of 
preserving  our  doctrine  and  worship  unaltered,  we  have  had 
sharp  conflicts  to  maintain,  during  the  present  year,  with 
persons  of  great  talents  and  high  consideration  in  our  coun- 
try. These,  we  trust,  are  no  ambiguous  testimonies  of  our 
steadfastness,  seeing  we  incur,  for  the  sake  of  our  princi- 
ples, odium  and  danger  with  which  they  are  little  acquainted 
who,  living  at  ease,  and  surrounded  with  their  admirers, 
heap  reproaches  upon  us.  We  wish  such  persons  could  be 
present  at  our  discussions,  and  hear  the  subtle  arguments 
which  we  have  to  encounter.  The  same  books  are  promul- 
gated among  us  as  before  the  v»'ar  :  nor  are  other  rites  ob- 
served in  our  churches  than  you  yourselves  have  witnessed. 
In  these,  though  there  is  not  an  entire  uniformity,  more 
feeing  used  in  some  places  and  fewer  ia  others,  yet  there  i^ 


CONDUCT   OF   MELANCTHON.  249 

no  such  (liiference  as  to  cause  any  contention  among  us. 
You  agree  with  us,  that  religious  assemblies  must  be  held, 
decent  rites  used  in  them,  and  some  sort  of  discipline  ob- 
served :  in  which  things,  if  nothing  be  introduced  contrary 
to  any  commandment  of  God,  the  particulars  are  not  worth 
contending  about.  This  you  admit :  but  you  are  afraid  of 
danger  lurking  under  the  term,  things  indifferent.  Our 
sentiments  are  the  same  as  your  own,  when  you  look  to  this 
point  with  an  eye  of  jealousy;  and  we  are  sensible  that 
many  wish  to  give  things  a  turn  towards  the  whole  popish 
polity :  but  yet,  when  occupied  in  an  arduous  conflict  for 
essentials,  we  abstain  from  contending  about  things  in- 
different, we  think  that  good  and  wise  men  should  put  a 
favourable  construction  on  our  conduct.  We  do  not  apply 
the  term  indiffereyit  to  magical  consecrations,  to  the  worship 
of  images,  to  the  carrying  about  of  the  host,  and  other 
things  of  that  kind  :  these  we  utterly  condemn,  both  with 
our  tongues  and  our  pens.  We  do  not  even  extend  the 
name  to  silly  trifling  ceremonies,  such  as  watchings  at  the 
graves  of  the  deceased.  Persons  who  make  such  charges 
against  us  do  us  injustice,  and  indulge  their  own  wrong 
tempers.  But,  there  are  many  things,  distinct  from  these, 
observed  by  the  church  from  the  earliest  ages,  and  con- 
ducive to  good  order,  or  even  to  ediflcation  ;  such  as  festi- 
vals, a  course  of  lessons,  religious  assemblies,  examination 
and  absolution  hefore  the  sacrament,  and  in  order  to  con- 
firmation, observances  connected  with  public  penance  and 
v/ith  ordination,  solemn  vows  and  prayers  at  marriages, 
and  decent  processions  and  addresses  at  funerals.  When 
things  of  this  sort  were  in  use  among  us,  having  been  re- 
tained for  beneficial  purposes,  how  could  we  pretend  to  say 
that  we  would  admit  nothing  of  an  indifferent  nature — no- 
thing that  was  established  by  custom  ]  Should  we,  in  the 
spirit  of  party-zeal  and  hatred,  reject  the  usages  of  our  ad- 
versaries, even  when  they  were  such  as  the  church  of  God 
has  ever  adopted,  even  from  the  primitive  times  \ .  .  .We 
know  that  your  sentmients  are  remote  from  this.  But  your 
censiire  of  us  relates  not  to  this  becoming  conformity  of  our 
church  to  the  ancients,  but  rather  to  certain  foolish  rites,  re- 
vived by  some  persons  in  power  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate 
restoration  of  all  the  papal  abuses.  Here  we  are  blamed  for 
not  offering  a  more  determined  resistance,  and  for  even  ad- 


230  CONDUCT    OF    MELANCTIION. 

vising  the  pastors,  in  some  instances,  not  to  abandon  tlaelr 
churches  on  account  of  these  impositions.  Take  the  fol- 
lowing instance  :  In  the  territories  of  the  Mai-quis  Albert 
of  Brandenburg,  the  court  at  first  required  that  the  pastors 
should  receive  and  conform  to  the  whole  Interim.  To  this 
the  nobles,  the  citizens,  and  the  pastors,  with  a  pious  union 
of  counsels,  respectfully  but  firmly  refused  their  concur- 
rence. The  court  then  adopted  another  course,  and  pro- 
posed articles  which  made  no  change  either  in  doctrine  or 
in  the  public  prayers,  but  only  imposed  additional  rites,  and 
those  of  a  kind  which  might  be  borne.  Such  persons  as 
would  not  submit  to  this  regulation  were  ordered  to  quit 
the  country  :  and,  when  many  pastors  chose  the  latter  alter- 
native, the  churches  entreated  they  might  not  be  deserted. 
Now,  what  advice  was  to  be  given  in  such  a  case  1  Some 
answer,  that  the  court  ought  to  have  been  overawed  with 
the  threats  of  insurrection,  and  thus  deterred  from  making 
any  changes.  But  many  reasons  induced  us  not  to  give 
such  advice.  Our  enemies,  who  will  not  allow  us  to  pre- 
scribe laws,  might  only  have  been  provoked  to  harsher 
measures  :  they  might  have  called  in  the  emperor's  armies, 
alleging  that  such  a  tone  of  defiance  sounded  the  trumpet 
of  war  throughout  the  country.  Nor  could  we  be  willing 
to  see  the  poor  people  deprived  of  their  pastors,  as  has  been 
the  case  in  Suabia,  where  many  of  the  churches  are  left  en- 
tirely destitute,  or  wolves  preside  in  them,  and  introduce 
impious  doctrine  and  false  worship.  If  in  such  circum- 
stances you  disapprove  the  advice  we  have  given,  yet  re- 
gard us  with  forbearance,  and  do  not  condemn  men  who 
teach  the  same  gospel  with  yourselves,  are  placed  nearer 
the  scene  of  danger  than  you  are,  and  could,  in  a  personal 
interview,  assign  to  you  many  reasons  in  justification  of  the 
course  they  pursue. . .  .To  show,  therefore,  that  we  are  not 
moved  by  the  mere  desire  of  liberty,  or  by  the  love  of  no- 
velty, or  by  hatred  for  our  opponents,  we  contend  for  points 
of  importance,  with  respect  to  which  the  better  class  even 
of  our  adversaries  cannot  shut  their  eyes  against  the  light 
of  truth.  And  this  we  think  a  more  useful  course  than  to 
quarrel  about  a  surplice,  and  give  occasion  to  men  to  say, 
that  we  oppose  our  rulers,  raise  discords,  and  expose  our 
country  to  the  ravages  of  foreign  troops,  by  our  folly  and  ob- 
Btinacy.     For  occasioning  such  evils  as  these,  we  must  have 


CONDUCT  OF    MELANCTHON.  251 

lio  light  causes  to  assign.  We  congratulate  you  who  are 
placed  in  different  circumstances.  But  the  church  has 
everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  had  some  degree  of  bondage, 
more  gentle  or  more  galling  to  bear ;  and  you  should  en- 
deavour to  alleviate  the  severity  of  that  to  which  we  are 
subjected,  and  not  increase  it  by  condemning  us,  while  we 
hold  fast  what  is  fundamental.  Let  us,  therefore,  preserve 
harmony  and  good-will  among  ourselves,  lest  the  spirit  of 
prayer  be  injured  in  us  and  among  the  people  ;  and  lest  la- 
mentable and  mischievous  disputes  arise  on  essential  points  ; 
such  as  formerly  divided  the  church  concerning  the  proper 
time  of  observing  Easter.  Let  those  who  enjoy  more  liberty 
give  thanks  to  God  for  it,  and  use  it  piously  to  set  forth  his 
truth  ;  and  let  them  take  care  not  to  relax  the  reins  of  dis- 
cipline. Let  such  of  us  as  are  under  bondage  acknowledge 
that  we  are  chastened  of  the  Lord,  and  never  suffer  his  gen- 
uine worship  to  be  corrupted — according  to  that  which  is 
written,  '  though  all  this  be  come  upon  us,  yet  we  have  not 
forgotten  thee.'  We  would  not  have  the  churches  dis- 
turbed :  .  . .  but,  when  new  burdens  are  imposed,  we  think  it 
should  be  seriously  considered  whether  they  can  be  borne, 
or  whether  the  people  must  be  left  a  prey  to  wolves — for  we 
would  no  more  have  ceremonies  admitted  which  are  con- 
trary to  piety  than  you  would.  We  trust  our  present  an- 
swer may  satisfy  you  :  and  our  desire  is,  that  our  harmony 
may  be  uninterrupted,  and  the  union  of  our  souls  in  God 
be  eternal — as  the  Son  of  God,  when  entering  upon  his 
sufferings,  prayed  that  the  hearts  of  all  his  disciples  might 
be  one  in  God.     Farewell !" 

Will  not  the  reader  now  concur  in  the  conclusion  at 
which,  in  common  with  Dr.  Cox,  the  biographer  of  Melanc-' 
thon  (whose  sentiments  on  s^ich  a  subject  should  have  the 
more  weight,  as  being  those  of  a  dissenter),  I  have  arrived, 
that  the  original  documents  are  "  amply  sufficient  to  fur- 
nish the  defence"  of  the  reformer  against  the  imputations, 
whether  of  his  contemporary  assailants  or  of  modem  his- 
torians ? 

In  addition  to  the  explicit  statement  of  the  writer's  sen- 
timents which  the  above  letter  conveys,  it  contains  some  in- 
teresting notices  concerning  the  situation  of  the  churches 
with  which  he  was  connected.  It  appears  that  up  to  the 
date  of  the  letter,  when  the  Interim  had  been  in  force  nearly 


253  PROCEEDINGS 

a  year,  no  material  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  Saxon 
churches.  The  same  doctrines,  it  is  affirmed,  were  preached, 
and  divine  ordinances  administered  in  the  same  manner. 
Others  of  Melancthon's  letters  and  papers  carry  down  the 
like  information  to  a  later  period,  and  extend  it  to  other 
places.  And  within  this  period  the  emperor  began  to  relax 
in  his  zeal  for  his  new  form  of  doctrine.  "  He  wished," 
says  Camerarius,  the  friend  and  biographer  of  Melancthon, 
"  to  have  it  acknowledged,  but  he  daily  more  and  more  con- 
nived at  the  failure  of  conformity  to  it,  if  only  his  authority 
were  not  impeached."  We  may  hence  infer,  that  less 
change  was  elfected  in  the  Lutheran  church  by  the  promul- 
gation of  the  Interim  than  is  sometimes  apprehended. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Proceedings  of  Maurice — He  attacks  aiul  surprises  ike  Em- 
peror— Treaty  of  Passau — Death  of  Maurice — Peace  of 
Religion — Extracts  from  Melancthon's  Writings — Pro- 
gress of  Reformation — Controversies — Reflections. 

Only  fouT  cities  of  note  now  held  out  against  the  au- 
thority of  the  emperor.  These  were  Magdeburg,  Bremen, 
Hamburg,  and  Lubeck  ;  the  first  relying  on.  its  strength, 
and  the  others  encouraged  by  their  proximity  to  the  Prot- 
estant kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  Sweden.  The  resistance 
of  Magdeburg,  standing  connected  with  events  which 
changed  the  whole  face  of  affairs  in  Germany,  demands  our 
particular  notice.*  The  ban  of  prescription  had  been  some 
time  before  published  against  the  city,  in  the  same  ir- 
regular manner  as  against  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the 
landgrave  :  but,  when  it  added  to  its  other  offences  that  of 
resolutely  refusing  the  Interim,  Charles  further  proclaimed 
it  a  prey  to  any  one  who  could  make  himself  master  of  it. 
Though  the  citizens  in  consequence  suffered  many  calami- 
ties, they  bore  them  with  an  undaunted  spirit,  and  met  the 

*  For  the  fuller  detail  of  particulars,  see  Robertson,  book  x. 


OF    MAURICE.  253 

emperor's  proclamations  with  the  most  vigorous  manifes- 
toes, justifying  their  own  conduct,  declaring  that  they  con- 
tended only  for  retaining  their  ancient  liberties,  and  the  un- 
molested exercise  of  their  religion,  and  that  in  all  other 
things  they  were  ready  to  yield  the  most  dutiful  submission 
to  the  emperor's  authority.  At  length,  in  the  diet  held  at 
Augsburg  in  the  year  1550,  after  Charles's  return  from  the 
Low  Countries,  it  was  resolved  to  despatch  an  army  against 
the  place,  and  to  besiege  it  in  form  ;  and,  on  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  diiet,  the  conduct  of  the  war  was,  with  the  em- 
peror's full  approbation,  committed  to  Maurice  of  Saxony. 
Maurice's  undertaking  this  service  (perhaps  procuring  his 
own  appointment  to  it)  was  another  stroke  of  that  artful 
and  ambitious  prince's  policy.  By  successive  previous 
measures  calculated  to  regain  the  confidence  of  the  Protest- 
ants which  he  had  entirely  forfeited  in  the  Smalkaldic  war, 
he  had  done  much  to  risk  the  emperor's  favour,  and  to  ex- 
cite his  jealousy  ;  but  now,  by  his  apparent  zeal  against  the 
citizens  of  Magdeburg,  whose  spirit  and  resolution  had 
gained  them  the  general  admiration  of  the  Protestant  party, 
he  allayed  every  suspicion,  and  inspired  the  emperor 
with  confidence ;  while  he  at  the  same  time  took  a  most 
important  step  towards  the  execution  of  the  mighty  schemes 
which  he  was  meditating. 

By  Charles's  late  successes  riot  only  the  religion,  but 
the  liberties,  of  Germany  were  prostrated  at  his  feet,  and  he 
had  but  to  advance  a  little  further  in  order  to  make  himself 
and  his  successors  as  absolute  in  that  country  as  he  had 
become  in  Spain.  This  could  not  fail  to  be  most  offensive 
and  alarming  to  the  princes  of  the  empire,  and  to  none  more 
so  than  to  Maurice — now  become  the  most  powerful  among 
them,  and  as  such,  the  most  impatient  of  a  state  of  entire 
dependence  on  a  superior.  He  appears  also  to  have  been 
sincerely  attached  to  the  Protestant  religion  ;  and  he  was 
personally  irritated  by  the  cruel  imprisonment  of  the  land- 
grave his  father-in-law,  who  by  his  persuasion  had  put  him- 
self into  the  emperor's  hands.  All  these  motives  conspired 
to  make  hira  seek  the  overthrow  of  that  despotic  power, 
which  he  had  so  essentially  contributed  to  raise.  The  con- 
duct of  the  siege  of  Magdeburg  not  only  blinded  the 
emperor  to  his  designs,  but  gave  him  the  command  of  a 
powerful  armv,  which  he  made  it  his  business  to  keep  to- 

Vol.  II.— Y 


254  PROCEEDINGS  OF    MAURICE. 

gether  till  his  plans  were  ripe  for  execution.  With  this 
view,  though  he  made  a  'show  of  vigour,  he  allowed  the 
siege  to  be  protracted  throughout  a  whole  year  ;  and  at  the 
close  of  it  granted  the  besieged  such  terms,  as  both  secured 
their  religion  and  so  much  attached  them  to  him  as  to  induce 
them  to  elect  him  their  burgrave  :  and  all  this  he  at  the 
same  time  managed  with  such  dexterity  as  to  avoid  exciting 
any  distrust  in  the  breast  of  the  emperor. 

But  before  we  proceed  to  the  development  of  Maurice's 
designs,  we  must  take  some  notice  of  the  transactions 
which  took  place  with  reference  to  the  council  of  Trent. 

In  consequence  of  the  death  of  Paul  III.,  and  the  suc- 
cession of  Julius  III.  to  the  papal  chair,  the  emperor  had  a 
better  prospect  of  succeeding  in  his  wishes  with  respect  to 
the  restoration  of  the  council.  A  principal  object,  there- 
fore, proposed  in  the  diet  opened  at  Augsburg,  July  26,  1550 
(which  was  again  overawed  by  the  presence  of  the  imperial 
troops),  was  to  procure  from  its  members  an  explicit  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  council,  with  an  engagement  to  obey  its 
decrees  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  more  effectually  to  provide 
for  the  observance  of  the  Interim.  But  here  Maurice 
acted  a  part  which  was  to  gain  him  credit  again  with  the 
Protestants.  He  boldly  avowed  by  his  deputies  that  he 
would  not  acknowledge  the  council  unless  all  points  pre- 
viously decided  in  it  were  reviewed  ;  unless  the  Protestant 
divines  were  both  fully  heard,  and  allowed  to  vote  in  the 
assembly  ;  and  unless  the  pope  renounced  his  pretensions 
to  preside  in  it,  engaged  to  submit  hii^iself  to  its  decrees, 
and  absolved  the  bishops  from  the  oath  by  which  they  were 
bound  to  him,  that  they  might  speak  and  vote  with  freedom. 
Yet,  in  some  way  not  sufficiently  explained,  he  contrived  so 
to  represent  this  daring  proceeding,  which  alone  gave  any 
courage  and  confidence  to  the  Protestants,  as  still  to  create 
no  distrust  in  the  emperor's  mind.  The  diet,  however,  con- 
cluded in  February,  155.1,  with  a  recess,  in  which  the  affairs 
of  religion  were  referred  to  the  council,  and  all  parties 
were  required  to  send  their  deputies  thither — the  emperor 
engaging  to  give  his  safe-conduct  to  such  as  demanded  it. 

The  council  reassembled  at  Trent  in  May,  1551  ;  but  all 
the  preparations  which  the  Protestant  divines,  at  the  instance 
of  the  princes,  had  made  for  it  were  of  no  avail.  The  ambas- 
sadors indeed  of  Maurice  and  of  the  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg, 


THE  EMPEROR  SURPRISED.  255 

ajid  the  deputies  of  Strasburg  and  some  other  cities  associated 
with  it,  repaired  to  Trent,  and  acted  there  a  firm  and  manly 
part :  but  for  the  divines  no  such  safe-conduct  as  the  Prot- 
estant princes,  warned  by  the  case  of  John  Huss,  demanded 
from  the  council  itself  could  ever  be  obtained.  Brentius 
and  some  other  divines  from  Wiirtemberg  and  Strasburg 
ventured  to  Trent  without  it ;  but  they  could  never  procure 
a  hearing :  and  the  legate  Crescentio  expressed  violent 
indignation  at  the  idea  of  their  being  p-llowed  to  present  a 
confession  to  the  assembly.  Melancthon  likewise,  by  Mau- 
rice's command,  proceeded  on  his  way  as  far  as  Nuremberg, 
there  to  await  further  others. — But  in  the  mean  time 
Maurice's  designs  were  matured,  and  his  determination 
was  to  adopt  measures  very  different  from  that  of  sending 
divines  to  carry  on  useless  discussions  with  the  haughty 
representatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

By  a  tissue  of  the  most  consummate  artifice  and  duplicity, 
Maurice,  though  but  a'young  man,  had  for  nearly  two  j^ears 
so  completely  duped  Charles,  the  most  practised  and  wary 
politician  of  his  age,  as  to  dissipate  every  suspicion  that 
might  have  arisen  in  his  mind,  and  to  inspire  him  to  the  last 
with  the  most  entire  confidence  ;  while  he  actually  formed 
leagues  with  several  German  princes,  collected  troops  and 
kept  them  ready  on  the  instant  to  obey  his  summons,  and 
even  entered  into  an  effective  alliance  with  the  King  of  France, 
for  the  subversion  of  all  that  overgrown  power  which 
Charles  had  established  in  Germany.  The  emperor,  who  at 
this  time  laboured  under  an  attack  of  the  gout,  was  reposing 
at  Inspruck,  within  three  days'  journey  of  Trent,  watching 
the  proceedings  of  the  council  there,  and  superintending 
the  progress  of  a  petty  war  in  which  he  was  engaged  in 
Italy;  while,  with  scarcely, sufficient  troops  about  him  to 
form  his  guard,  he  daily  expected  a  friendly  visit  from 
Maurice.  Instead  of  paying  him  this  visit,  the  latter  sud- 
denly sounded  the  trumpet  of  war  ;  rushed  with  a  well- 
appointed  army  from  Thuringia  ;  seized  upon  Augsburg, 
from  which  the  imperial  garrison  fled  before  him ;  took  by 
storm  the  castle  of  Ehrenberg,  which  commanded  the  passes 
of  the  mountains  ;  and,  but  for  a  sudden  mutiny  among  a 
part  of  his  troops,  would  have  captured  the  emperor  at 
Inspruck,  almost  before  he  was  aware  of  his  danger.  Charles 
Iieard  of  his  approach  only  late  in  the  evening,  and  though 


256  TREATY    OF    PASSATJ. 

unable  to  bear  the  motion  of  any  other  vehicle  than  a  litter, 
he  was  obliged  to  set  out  immediately  by  torch-light,  and  in 
the  midst  of  a  heavy  rain,  and  to  be  carried  across  the 
mountains  to  hide  himself  in  the  fastnesses  of  Carinthia ; 
while  Maurice,  arriving  a  few  hours  after,  and  finding  his 
prey  escaped,  abandoned  the  baggage  of  the  emperor  and  his 
ministers  to  be  plundered  by  his  soldiers.  Thus  taken 
unprepared  by  a  foe  who  would  not  allow  himself  for  a 
moment  to  be  trifled  with,  to  whose  enterprise  almost  all 
Germany  wished  v/ell,  and  who  was  powerfully  seconded 
by  the  military  operations  of  the  French  King  in  another 
quarter, — Charles,  now  destitute  of  all  hope  of  again  forming 
such  a  confederation  as  he"  had  brought  to  act  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  Smalkaldic  league,  was  compelled  to  have 
recourse  to  negotiation,  and  in  fact  to  surrender  all  the 
great  designs  which  he  had  so  long  been  maturing,  and 
seemed  to  have  successfully  carried  into  effect,  against  the 
liberties,  both  civil  and  religious,  of  Germany.  The  particu- 
lars of  what  followed  must  be  sought  elsewhere.  Suffice 
it  for  us  to  say,  that  Maurice,  when  he  first  took  up  arms, 
had  avowed  three  objects  as  those  which  he  aimed  to  accom- 
plish, namely,  to  secure  the  Protestant  religion — to  maintain 
the  ancient  laws  and  constitution  of  the  empire — and  to 
procure  the  liberation  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  By  the  first 
of  these  proposals  he  roused  all  the  favourers  of  the  reform- 
ation to  support  him ;  by  the  second  he  interested  all  the 
friends  of  liberty  in  his  cause  ;  and  by  the  last  he  engaged 
on  his  side  all  the  sympathy  which  had  been  universally 
excited  by  the  landgrave's  unhappy  situation,  and  all  the 
indignation  raised  against  the  base  injustice  and  cruelty  by 
which  he  had  been  betrayed  into  that  situation,  and  for  five 
years  detained  in  it  after  he  had  fulfilled  every  condition  pre- 
scribed, notwithstanding  every  intercession  that  could  be 
made  in  his  behalf.  And  all  these  objects  Maurice  ulti- 
mately secured.  By  the  treaty  of  Passau,  concluded  August 
2,  1552,  under  the  mediation  of  Ferdinand,  the  emperor's 
brother,  it  was  agreed.  That  on  or  before  the  12th  of  that 
month  the  landgrave  should  be  set  at  liberty,  and  conveyed 
in  safety  into  his  own  dominions  ;  that  within  six  months  a 
diet  should  be  held  to  deliberate  on  the  best  means  of  ter- 
minating the  existing  religious  dissensions,  and  that  in  the 
mean  time  no  molestation  whatever  should  be  offered  to 


TREATY    OF    PA6SAU.  257 

those  who  adhered  to  the  Confession  of  Augsburg  ;  that  if 
the  diet  thus  to  be  held  should  not  be  able  to  effect  an  ami- 
cable adjustment  of  the  religious  disputes,  the  stipulations 
of  the  present  treaty  in  behalf  of  the  Protestants  should 
continue  in  full  force  for  ever  ;  and  finally,  that  the  en- 
croachments complained  of,  on  the  constitution  and  liberties 
of  the  empire,  should  also  be  referred  to  the  approaching 
diet. 

Thus  was  laid  the  basis  of  the  religious  liberties  of  Ger- 
many ;  thus  was  the  fabric  of  absolute  power,  of  which 
Charles  imagined  himself  to  be  laying  the  top  stone,  sub- 
verted at  a  stroke  ;  and  thus  was  the  Protestant  church, 
which  had  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  extinction,  raised 
again,  and  placed  in  safety  ;  and  all  this,  under  the  con- 
trolling influence  of  Divine  Providence,  by  the  hands  of  the 
same  man  who  had  been  the  chief  instrument  of  establish- 
ing what  he  now  demolished,  and  apparently  destroying 
what  he  now  restored.  It  is  remarkable  also  that  the  King 
of  France,  a  zealous  Romanist  and  a  persecutor  of  the  Prot- 
estants in  his  own  dominions,  should  have  borne  a  large 
share  in  giving  permanence  and  stability  to  Protestantism 
within  the  empire;  and  that  a  Roman  CathoUc  bishop* 
should  have  been  the  negotiator  of  the  league  between  him 
and  Maurice  which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  Romish  church. 
"  So  wonderfully,"  observes  Dr.  Robertson — thus  giving 
utterance  to  a  sentiment  which  it  would  show  the  grossest 
insensibility  not  to  form  on  such  an  occasion — "so  wonder- 
fully doth  the  wisdom  of  God  superintend  and  regulate  the 
caprice  of  human  passions,  and  render  them  subservient 
towards  the  accompUshment  of  his  purposes." 

Maurice,  in  the  several  towns  which  opened  their  gates  to 
him  in  his  march,  and  in  all  places  to  which  his  power  even 
for  a  time  extended,  reinstated  the  magistrates  whom  the 
emperor  had  deposed,  and  restored  the  Protestant  ministers 
and  schoolmasters  whom  he  had  ejected.  In  particular  he 
did  this  at  Augsburg  ;  and,  though  the  emperor  afterward 
reversed  his  other  arrangements  in  that  city,  he  suffered  all 
the  ministers  except  three  to  remain,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
citizens. 

Another  effect  of  Maurice's  expedition  was  a  second  dis- 

*  John  de  Feinne,  Bishop  of  Bayonne. 
Y2 


258  DEATH    OF   MAURICE. 

persion  of  the  council  of  Trent.  No  sooner  did  the  fathers 
hear  of  the  capture  of  Augsburg  than  many  of  them  took 
their  departure,  and  the  rest,  assembUng  on  the  28th  of 
April,  prorogued  the  council  for  two  years.  Such  bodies, 
however,  when  once  separated,  are  not  easily  reassembled, 
and  ten  years  elapsed  before  the  council  met  again,  under 
the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV. 

But  the  work  of  Maurice  was  wellnigh  finished,  when  he 
had  accomplished  this  unlooked-for  revolution  in  Germany. 
In  less  than  a  year  after  the  treaty  of  Passau,  he  fell  in 
battle  against  one  of  his  associates  in  his  late  enterprise. 
Albert  Marquis  of  Brandenburg-Culmbach,*  who  had 
throughout  acted  in  a  very  disorderly  manner,  was  not- 
withstanding allowed  to  be  included  in  the  treaty,  provided 
he  on  his  part  should  accede  to  it.  But  he  declined  to  do 
so,  and  chose  rather  to  carry  on  a  lawless  and  predatory 
warfare,  in  which  he  inflicted  great  calamities  on  many  of 
the  German  states,  and  left  it  always  in  uncertainty  which 
would  be  the  next  object  of  his  attack.  He  was  in  conse- 
quence condemned  by  the  imperial  chamber,  which  deputed 
Maurice,  with  the  aid  of  some  other  princes,  to  put  him 
down  by  force.  They  met  in  battle  at  Sieverhausen,  in  the 
duchy  of  Lunenburg,  June  9,  1553,  where  Albert  was  de- 
feated with  great  loss,  but  Maurice  received  a  wound  from 
a  pistol-shot,  of  which  he  died  two  days  after.  This  extra- 
ordinary man,  who  had,  by  his  great  talents  and  unrivalled 
artifice,  wrought  changes  apparently  so  disproportioned  to 
the  power  which  he  originally  possessed,  had  not  cortipleted 
the  thirty-second  year  of  his  age.  It  has  been  with  some 
justice  remarked,  that  "  the  ends  which  he  had  in  view,'* 
in  the  critical  junctures  of  his  life,^  "  seem  to  have  been 
more  attended  to  than  the  means  by  which  he  attained 
them  ;  and  he  was  now  as  universally  extolled  for  his  zeal 
and  public  spirit  as  he  had  lately  been  condemned  for  his 
indiflerence  and  interested  policy."!  Traces  of  this  sort  of 
judgment  concerning  him  I  have  found  even  in  the  writings 
of  wise  and  good  men,t  who  shared  the  benefit  of  his  later 
services  :  but  it  is  a  mode  of  judging  against  which  it  be- 

*  Not  the  master  of  the  Teutonic  knights,  or  "  of  Prussia."    See  vol 
i.p.209. 
t  Robertson.  i  Melancthon,  Camerarius,  &,c. 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY.  259 

hooves  us  sedulously  to  guard  ;  and  I  fear  we  must  pronounce, 
that,  however  the  talents  of  Maurice  may  command  our 
admiration,  and  the  tinal  result  of  his  measures  gratify  our 
wishes,  there  was  little  in  his  principles  which  we  can 
respect  or  approve. 

The  diet  for  the  final  settlement  of  religious  affairs  was 
to  have  been  held  within  six  months  after  the  conclusion  of 
the  treaty  of  Passau  :  but,  in  consequence  of  the  disorders 
produced  in  Germany  by  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  the  wars 
in  which  the  emperor  continued  to  be  engaged  against 
France  and  in  Italy,  and  Ferdinand's  occupation  in  defend- 
ing his  dominions  against  the  Turks,  it  did  not  meet  for  two 
years  and  a  half.  It  was  at  length  opened  at  Augsburg, 
February  5,  1555.  Ferdinand  at  first  proposed  the  old  and 
futile  expedient  of  a  conference  and  a  compromise.  But 
this  being  agreeable  to  no  party,  and  the  Protestants,  who 
received  the  proposal  with  aversion  and  even  alarm,  as  fall- 
ing much  short  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Passau, 
beginning  to  hold  formidable  meetings  on  the  occasion,  it 
was  abandoned  ;  and  in  the  end  a  free  toleration  in  their 
rehgion,  of  all  such  states  as  received  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  was  agreed  to,  and  solemnly  proclaimed  in  the 
recess  of  the  diet. 

The  question  which  created  the  most  difl^iculty  and  debate 
related  to  the  course  to  be  adopted  in  the  case  of  ecclesi- 
astics, in  future,  renouncing  the  Romish  for  the  Protestant 
faith.  The  dignitaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  it 
was  agreed,  were  to  exercise  no  jurisdiction  in  Protestant 
states  ;  and  the  ecclesiastical  benefices  and  revenues  which 
were  in  Protestant  hands  before  the  treaty  of  Passau  were 
still  to  remain  so  ;  but  if  a  Roman  Catholic  in  possession 
of  a  dignity  or  benefice  became  Protestant,  was  he  to  forfeit 
his  preferment,  or  to  be  allowed  to.  retain  it  1  Considering 
the  eagerness  with  which  this  point  was  contested  on  both 
sides,  it  appears  surprising  that  no  compromise  was  at- 
tempted. It  was  expressly  allowed  to  the  supreme  civil 
power,  in  each  state,  to  establish  that  form  of  doctrine  and 
worship  which  it  might  prefer :  would  it  not  therefore  have 
been  natural,  that,  where  the  establishment  was  Protestant, 
an  ecclesiastic  becoming  Roman  Catholic  should  resign  his 
preferment,  as  well  as  that,  under  a  Roman  Catholic  estab- 
lishment, one  should  do  so  who  became  Protestant  ?     Yet 


260  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY. 

no  arrangement  of  this  kind  appears  to  have  been  proposed 
or  adverted  to  in  the  discussions  which  took  place.  Each 
side  simply  contended  either  for  or  against  the  reformed 
Romanist  retaining  the  situation  which  he  had  held  pre- 
viously to  his  change  of  sentiments.  In  the  end  the  Ro- 
mish party  prevailed,  and  the  Protestants  were  constrained 
to  acquiesce  in  the  regulation  called  the  ecclesiastical  reser- 
vatio7i,  by  which  it  was  enacted,  that  the  churchman  em- 
bracing Protestant  principles  should  forfeit  his  preferment, 
but  should  he  subjected  to  no  further  molestation:  and  this 
article  in  the  peace  of  religion,  it  is  observed,  has  proved,  as 
it  was  foreseen  by  both  parties  that  it  probably  would  do, 
the  great  barrier  against  the  extension  of  the  reformation  in 
Germany. 

Thus,  after  a  long-protracted  struggle,  was  a  settlement 
effected,  of  that  kind  which  alone  can  be  denominated  just 
and  reasonable,  or  which  has  ever  availed  to  heal  such  dif- 
ferences. But  mutual  toleration,  or  religious  liberty,  was 
here  introduced  more  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  than 
upon  any  enlarged  and  enlightened  principle  ;  as  the  exclu- 
sion from  this  benefit  of  every  other  denomination  separate 
from  the  Church  of  Rome,  except  that  of  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  too  fully  demonstrates.*  The  great  principle, 
that  to  God  alone,  and  not  to  his  fellow-creatures,  is  a  man 
accountable  for  his  religious  belief ;  and  that,  so  long  as  he 
conducts  himself  as  a  peaceable  subject,  he  is  entitled  to  the 
full  protection  of  the  magistrate — a  principle  the  very  oppo- 
site of  that  w'hich  had  been  received  and  acted  upon  during 
the  long  reign  of  popery — was  as  yet  scarcely  discovered  by 
here  and  there  a  scattered  individual :  and  almost  ages  more 
elapsed  before  it  was  to  any  considerable  extent  proclaimed 
and  admitted.! 

*  Religious  liberty  was  not  formally  extended  to  the  followers  of 
Zwingle  and  Calvin  till  nearly  a  century  afterward,  by  the  treaty  of 
Westphalia,  which  terminated  the  thirty  years'  war,  in  1648. 

t  It  could  not  be  expected  that  either  governments  or  individuals 
should  speedily  divest  themselv^es  of  the  system  of  persecution  which 
flowed  from  the  maxims  of  so  many  preceding  ages,  and  still  retained 
its  hold  upon  the  mind,  even  after  the  original  error  on  which  it  was 
founded  had  been  detected  and  renounced.  They  w-ere  incapable  of  at 
once  tracing  to  its  just  consequences  the  discovery  which  they  them- 
selves had  made.  Hence  were  derived  those  comparatively  few^  and 
trifling  instances  of  persecution  with  which  the  reformers  themselves 
were  chargeable,  and  which  at  this  day  many  delight  fo  blazon,  as  if 


POPE    PAUL    IV.  261 

Proportioned  to  the  degree  in  which  the  recess  of  the  diet 
of  Augsburg  contravened,  and  tended  to  subvert  those  princi- 
ples which  the  Roman  pontiffs  had  ever  laboured  to  estabUsh, 
was  the  indignation  expressed  against  it  by  the  reigning  pope. 
Julius  III.  had  died  soon  after  the  diet  assembled,  and  his  im- 
mediate successor,  Marcellus  III.  (a  pontiff  of  a  very  prom- 
ising character),  having  survived  his  elevation  only  twenty- 
one  days,  the  papal  chair  was  now  occupied  by  Paul  IV., — 
a  man  worthy  to  have  been  the  immediate  successor  of  Hil- 
debrand.  On  receiving  advice  of  the  recess  of  Augsburg,  he 
gave  way  to  the  most  violent  transports  of  passion.  He  in- 
sisted to  the  imperial  ambassador,  tliat  the  decree  should  im- 
mediately be  declared  null  and  void,  as  an  impious  act,  founded 
in  the  sacrilegious  usurpation  of  powers  belonging  only  to 
the  holy  see ;  and  he  threatened  vengeance  against  both 
the  emperor  and  King  Ferdinand,  if  they  did  not  promptly 
comply  with  his  demand.  In  vain  did  the  ambassador  urge 
the  extreme  distress  to  which  the  emperor,  his  master,  had 
been  reduced  at  Inspruck,  and  under  which  he  had  been 
compelled  to  form  the  engagements  that  had  led  to  the 
present  result.  The  pope  answered,  ""  that  he  absolved 
him  from  his  oaths,  yea,  commanded  him  not  to  observe 
them."  And,  in  short,  moved  by  this  provocation,  and 
wrought  upon  by  the  ambitious  intrigues  of  his  nephews, 
he  instantly  threw  himself  into  the  interest  of  the  King  of 
France,  who  was  at  war  with  the  emperor. — But  papal  vio- 
lence had  at  this  time  become  comparatively  harmless. 

As  for  Charles  himself,  when  all  his  schemes  for  estab- 
lishing political  and  religious  despotism  in  Germany,  and 

they  were  equivalent  to  the  wholesale  systematic  butcheries  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  placed  her  and  the  reformed  churches  on  an  equal 
footing. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  even  Dr.  Robertson  has  said,  "  Luther, 
Calvin,  Cranmer,  Knox,  the  founders  of  the  reformed  church  in  their 
respective  countries,  as  far  as  they  had  power  ami  opporhinity,  inflicted 
the  same  punishments  upon  such  as  called  in  question  n?!j/ article  in  their 
creeds,  which  were  denounced  against  their  own  followers  by  the 
Church  of  Rome."  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  this  respectable  writer 
should  have  lent  the  sanction  of  his  name  to  so  grossly  overcharged  a 
statement,  and  thus  have  helped  to  countenance  the  flippant  attempts  of 
pretended  pliilosophers  to  cast  obloquy  upon  religion.  The  utter  false- 
hood of  the  charge,  as  far  as  Luther  is  concerned,  has  been  already  ex- 
posed throughout  the  preceding  history. 


262  ABDICATrOxV   OF    CHARLES    V. 

transmitting  it  to  his  posterity,*  were  dashed  in  pieces,  in 
the  manner  that  has  been  described,  he  became  indifferent 
to  the  affairs  of  the  empire  generally,  and  in  particular  to 
the  question  of  religion,  and  to  the  subject  of  the  council  as 
connected  with  it :  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  the  dis- 
appointment and  chagrin  he  had  suffered  operated  power- 
fully among  the  causes  that  induced  him  to  form  and  exe- 
cute the  extraordinary  measure  of -resigning  his  vast  do- 
minions— his  hereditary  ones  in  the  close  of  the  present 
year,  and  those  which  were  elective  in  the  year  following — 
and  himself  retiring  into  private  life.  After  this  remark- 
able step,  he  passed  about  two  years  in  a  state  of  almost 
monastic  seclusion  ;  and  he  is  supposed  to  have  accelerated 
his  death  by  the  severity  of  the  discipline  to  which  he  sub- 
jected himself.  In  this  retirement  he  is  said  to  have  dis- 
covered, not  only  the  vanity  of  all  his  past  schemes  of  ambi- 
tion, but  the  folly  of  the  attempts,  on  which  he  had  bestowed 
so  great  a  portion  of  his  time  and  labour,  to  compel  men  to 
think  alike,  or  at  least  to  profess  the  same  sentiments,  on 
the  deep  and  mysterious  subjects  of  religion.  Several  his- 
torians of  reputation  have  even  asserted,  that,  as  he  drew 
near  his  end,  and  was  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  awful 
thought  of  appearing  hefore  the  Divine  tribunal,  he  approxi- 
mated more  and  more  to  some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
Luther,  particularly  that  of  justification  by  faith;  and  it  is 
certain,  that  after  his  decease  some  of  those  who  had  been 
his  latest  confidential  attendants  suffered  as  heretics.  A 
living  writer,  however,  intimately  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  this  period,  particularly  as  connected  with  the  reformation, 
seems  but  too  clearly  to  have  shown  that  these  favourable 
conjectures  concerning  Charles's  state  of  mind  in  his  latter 
days  are  without  foundation  ;  and  that,  so  far  from  repent- 
ing of  his  conduct  towards  the  Protestants,  "  his  only  regret 
was  that  he  had  treated  them  with  so  much  leniency." 
"He  ought,"  he  said,  ""to  have  forgotten  his  word,"  passed 
to  Luther  at  Worms,  "  and  avenged  the  injury  that  heretic 
had  done  to  God."t  Charles  died  September  21,  1558,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-eight  years. 


*  He  spared  no  pains  to  induce  his  brother  Ferdinand  to  surrender  the 
splendid  reversion  of  the  empire  in  favour  of  his  son  Philip. 
t  M'Crie's  Ref.  in  Spain,  p.  246-250, 


STATE    OF    RELIGION.  263 

During  all  this  period  but  little  presents  itself  to  gratify 
the  taste  of  the  spiritual  mind,  in  quest  of  the  interior  his- 
tory of  the  true  church  of  Christ.  Scenes  of  warfare  and 
ambitious  conflict,  where  men  are  kept  in  a  state  of  constant 
excitement  and  agitation,  and  the  affairs  of  religion  are  con- 
trolled by  mere  secular  characters,  in  subservience  to  their 
own  selfish  designs,  must  be  deplorably  unfavourable  to  the 
growth  of  piety.  "  The  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in 
peace  of  them  that  make  peace  :"  and  we  cannot  be  suffi- 
ciently thankful  for  a  settled  state  of  society  ;  though,  at  the 
same  time,  we  have  need  to  take  care  that  we  do  not  abuse 
the  repose  and  the  opportunity  it  affords,  us  to  become  in 
another  way  "  mindful  of  earthly  things,"  and  to  seek  our 
rest  and  portion  here  below.  Still  however  we  may  trust 
that  at  the  period  under  review  many  pious  pastors  were 
feeding  their  flocks,  and  many  humble  souls  were  trained  up 
for  heaven  at  a  distance  from  the  din  and  bustle  of  the  trans- 
actions which  fill  the  page  of  history.  The  correspondence 
of  Melancthon  furnishes  us  with  the  most  pleasing  traces 
of  this  kind  that  we  are  acquainted  with  for  this  whole 
period ;  and  from  his  writings  we  shall  now  lay  before  the 
reader  some  extracts  illustrative  of  these  subjects. 
I".  On  two  contending  pastors  at  Zwickau,  he  pathetically 
urges  the  cultivation  of  harmony  and  mutual  affection,  and 
thus  beautifully  describes  the  effect  of  peace  within  the 
church  in  troublous  times.  "  Under  all  troubles,  public  and 
private,  it  is  an  unspeakable  relief  to  the  hearts  of  men  to 
see  the  church  where  they  live  in  a  state  of  tranquillity. 
The  mind  of  man  chiefly  finds  repose  in  prayer  to  God, 
which  is  greatly  hindered  and  interrupted  where  discord  is 
even  within  view.  Now,  since  public  calamities  at  the  pres- 
ent time  greatly  aflflict  numbers,  it  behooves  every  pastor  to 
keep  his  church  as  much  as  possible  like  a  safe  harbour,  in 
which  the  distressed  people  may  take  refuge,  and  be  re- 
freshed by  communion  with  God." 

His  exhortations  to  various  pious  ministers,  from  the  time 
when  the  Interim  was  first  projected,  to  maintain  their  posts, 
and  go  on  undismayed  in  their  work  as  long  as  they  pos- 
sibly could  do  it,  are  interesting  and  edifying.  He  coun- 
sels Pfeffinger  of  Leipzig,  and  John  Mathesius,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances to  avoid,  not  only  political  discussions,  but  all 
doubtful  points  of  theology  ;  to  denounce  the  sins  both  o-f 


264  EXTRACTS    FROM 

princes  and  people,  as  the  cause  of  the  existing  calamities  ; 
to  inculcate  repentance,  reconciliation  with  God,  and  the 
duty  of  prayer ;  to  direct  men  to  the  true  soUrce  of  con- 
solation ;  to  show  them  the  difference  between  devout 
?ind  superstitious  worship,  and  thus  to  fortify  their  minds 
against  the  corruptions  which  some  might  introduce  ;  to 
reprove  those  who  would  inflame  the  different  parties  one 
against  another ;  to  move  all  to  sympathize  with  the  suf- 
ferers, and  to  exhort  persons  in  authority  to  adopt  peaceable 
counsels.  And,  with  respect  to  the  event  of  their  labours 
directed  to  such  ends,  he  quotes  the  words  of  the  Psalm,  "  He 
that  now  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed, 
shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his 
sheaves  with  him." — "  I  am  convinced,"  he  elsewhere  says, 
"  that  in  this  world  the  true  heavenly  doctrine  will  ever  have 
to  maintain  a  conflict  with  errors  and  corruptions,  and  that 
those  who  uphold  the  cause  of  divine  truth  will  be  under  the 
cross,  and  suffer  for  their  principles.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  world  it  has  been  so  ;  and  holy  and  enlightened  men 
know  that  these  things  must  be  borne." 

In  a  paper  on  the  question,  which  it  appears  embarrassed 
some  persons,  of  offering  public  prayers  for  the  emperor 
while  he  was  waging  war  against  them,  he  makes  some 
fine  observations  on  the  difliculties  attending  true  prayer. 
"First,  we  have  to  get  our  minds  impressed  with  just  senti- 
ments concerning  God — that  he  will  hear  prayer,  and  on 
what  grounds  he  will  hear  it.  And  this  is  ditlicult. — Then 
the  real  exercise  of  faith  is  still  more  difficult :  to  draw  near 
to  God  when  our  sins  would  deter  us,  and  drive  us  to  a  dis- 
tance ;  and  to  expect  help  when  we  are  destitute  of  all  visi- 
ble protection.  Next  comes  the  due  consideration  of  our 
own  wants,  and  of  those  of  the  persons  for  whom  we  are  to 
pray.  Now,  to  apply  the  mind  to  so  many  topics,  and  at  the 
same  moment  to  be  afflicted,  and  to  relieve  our  affliction  by 
the  exercise  of  faith — experience  shows  all  this  to  be  most 
difficult.  Yet,  whenever  the  devout  mind  calls  upon  God 
under  a  genuine  conviction  of  its  sins  and  its  wants,  these 
several  things  are  necessary  ;  and  the  prayer  in  which  they 
concur  is  the  effectual  one.  There  is  great  need,  therefore, 
for  ministers  to  admonish  their  people  upon  these  topics 
— We  must  first  learn  to  pray  for  ourselves  ;  then  follows 
(what  presents  another  difficult)')  a  due  regard  for  the  want.« 


melancthon's  writings.  265 

and  the  afflictions  of  the  church  :  to  implore  of  God  that  he 
would  rule  and  direct  its  pastors  ;  would  protect  and  guide 
all  that  are  engaged  in  the  study  of  his  truth  ;  would  brino- 
discords  and  divisions  to  an  end  ;  would  repress  hypocrites 
and  the  wise  men  of  this  world,  who  care  nothing  for  reli- 
gion, and  would  manifest  his  favour  to  the  truly  pious  and 
righteous." 

A  constant  spirit  of  prayer  for  the  church  at  large,  for  his 
own  family,  and  for  all  his  numerous  correspondents  and 
their  various  connexions,  is  one  fine  trait  of  Melancthon's 
epistles.  And  the  subject  of  prayer  itself,  we  may  also  re- 
mark, is  one  which  he  ever  treats  in  a  very  delightful  manner. 
He  has  a  due  sense  of  its  importance  ;  and  he  deeply  feels 
how  tender  a  plant,  and  how  liable  to  be  crushed  and  with- 
ered in  the  unkindly  soil  and  climate  of  this  world,  is  a 
genuine  spirit  of  devotion.  He  therefore  anxiously  watches 
over  it,  and  fears  lest  it  should  be  hurt  or  lost  in  the  church, 
amid  the  disorders  that  prevailed.  He  deprecates  our  enter- 
taining notions  or  reasonings  which  might  "weaken  the 
spirit  of  prayer." — "Nothing,"  he  says,  "is  so  tender,  no- 
thing so  easily  disordered,  as  a  spirit  of  devotion  :  nor  is 
any  thing  more  distressing  or  more  injurious  than  its  being 
crippled  and  enfe.ebled."  Again :  "  We  know  that  by  all 
discords,  great  or  small,  prayer  is  hindered ;  and,  when 
prayer  is  interrupted,  some  run  into  profaneness  or  atheism, 
and  others  sink  in  anguish  of  mind  and  desperation." 

Writing  on  a  passage  of  Isaiah,  he  makes  the  followino- 
remark  on  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  :  "  It  is  necessary 
in  the  church  diligently  to  investigate  and  adhere  to  the 
simple,  natural,  grammatical  sense  of  Scripture.  We  are 
to  listen  to  the  divine  Word,  not  to  corrupt  it.  We  must 
not  flay  tricks  with  it,  by  fanciful  interpretations,  as  many 
in  all  ages  have  done.  The  plain  natural  sense  of  Scrip- 
ture always  carries  with  it  the  richest  and  most  valuable 
instruction."* 

Giving  advice,  as  it  would  appear,  to  a  young  divine,  he 
admirably  shows,  in  few  words,  the  need  of  learning  to  a 
preacher  ;  the  want  of  it  in  some,  and  the  abuse  of  it  in 
others ;  and  censures  the  folly  of  aiming  to  catch  the  ad- 

*  So  Luther  :  "  The  literal  meaning  of  Scripture  is  the  whole  founda^ 
Hon  of  fuith — the  only  thing  that  stands  its  ground  in  distress  and 
temptation." 

Vol.  n.— Z 


266  melancthon's  writings. 

miration  of  hearers  by  gaudy  language.  He  then  introduces 
the  following  description  of  a  preacher,  such  as  he  would 
wish  his  friend  to  become.  "  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
those  who  bring  from  home  with  them  the  (one)  design,  to 
speak  what  is  useful  and  necessary,  in  appropriate  and  ex- 
pressive words.  They  arrange  their  matter,  they  set  it  forth 
and  explain  it,  they  admonish  their  hearers  what  practical 
use  is  to  be  made  of  every  thing  delivered  ;  they  introduce 
striking  quotations  to  impress  the  mind,  and  examples  for 
illustration,  that  from  the  whole  the  people  may  know  what 
to  treasure  up  in  their  memories,  and  carry  away  with 
them.  They  add  motives  ;  they  address  the  affections — 
awaken  fear  by  the  awful  threatenings  of  God's  word,  and 
excite  hope  and  confidence  by  its  promises.  Now  they  dis- 
tinctly exhibit  the  law,  and  now  the  gospel,  clearly  marking 
the  difference  between  them.  One  while  they  are  simply 
expositors  of  Scripture — another  they  powerfully  address 
the  heart  and  conscience,  rousing  men's  minds,  not  by 
redundant  declamation,  but  by  an  appropriate  solemnity 
of  address. — Such  a  preacher  have  I  known  in  Martin 
Luther."* 

This  was  written  from  Wittemberg,  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  war  of  Smalkald  and  that  by  which  Maurice 
broke  the  power  of  Charles  Y.  ;  and  the  writer  adds,  "  My 
letter  is  a  hasty  effusion  in  a  time  of  sickness.  I  feel  that  I 
materially  injure  myself  by  constant  speaking  in  my  public 
lectures — my  strength  having  been  previously  broken  by 
cares  and  labours.  But  what  else  is  life,  than  a  passage 
through  troubles  to  a  better  state  ?  Let  us  only  endeavour 
that  our  labours  may  serve  the  church  of  God,  and  make 
known  his  truth." 

These  passages  give  us  some  insight  into  what  was  going 
on  for  the  edification  of  the  church.  Nor  are  we  left  with- 
out notices  which  show  that  the  reformed  doctrines  were 
still  making  progress  in  these  troublous  times. 

*  Elsewhere  he  especially  commends  modesty  and  an  unaspiring  tem- 
per in  candidates  for  the  ministry.  He  was  pleased  with  a  young  man 
who  desired  for  a  time  to  apply  himself  to  the  humbler  modes  of  teach- 
ing ;  "  For,"  he  says,  "  those  who  hastily  press  forward  to  the  high  oiJice 
of  public  preachers  too  frequently  show  that  they  seek  popular  applause, 
I^t  us  encourage  modesty,  and  inculcate  upon  young  men  moJeriition 
of  inind." 


PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION.       267 

John  Frisius,  Abbot  of  Neustadt  in  Franconia,  is  particu- 
larly mentioned  as  having  been,  in  the  year  1554,  cited  be- 
fore his  diocesan  at  Wurlzburg  on  suspicion  of  having  em- 
braced Lutheran  opinions.  A  list  of  more  than  forty  ques- 
tions, comprising  all  the  points  at  issue  between  Protestants 
and  papists,  was  presented  to  him,  and  his  answers  required. 
He  gave  them  explicitly,  confirming  his  sentiments  from  the 
Scriptures  and  the  fathers  ;  and  in  consequence  suffered 
deprivation. 

We  formerly  saw  with  pleasure  the  strong  bearing  of  the 
public  mind  in  favour  of  reformation  in  the  Austrian  domin- 
ions, and  witnessed  with  pain  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
opposed  and  overborne.*  Similar  scenes  still  present  them- 
selves in  that  quarter.  In  the  year  1554,  Ferdinand  found 
it  necessary  to  issue  an  edict  commanding  his  subjects  to 
make  no  innovation  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  princes,  nobles,  and  cities  made  strong  representations 
in  reply,  entreating  that  this  sacrament  might  be  admin- 
istered among  them  according  to  Christ's  institution  and 
the  practice  of  the  primitive  church. 

Again,  a  few  months  after  the  peace  of  religion,  having 
occasion  to  assemble  the  states  of  Austria,  at  Vienna,  to  pro- 
vide the  means  of  resisting  the  Turks,  Ferdinand  was  sur- 
prised to  find  their  first  address  to  him  turn  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  They  observed,  that  for  fourteen  years  past 
they  had  been  soliciting  him  for  relief  with  respect  to  it,  but 
in  vain  ;  that  in  the  mean  time  no  success  had  attended  the 
efforts  made  against  the  enemy,  who  rather  became  more 
formidable  ;  that  this  indicated  the  displeasure  of  God  lying 
upon  the  country  for  its  sins  ;  so  that,  "  unless  God's  Word 
were  received,  and  a  reformation  of  manners  promoted,  they 
were  likely  to  lose,  not  only  their  fortunes  and  their  lives, 
but  their  eternal  salvation."  From  time  to  time,  they  state, 
the  object  of  their  application  had  been  postponed  ;  but  they 
now  entreat  him  to  consider  "  how  grievous  it  was  to  per- 
sons who  most  ardently  desired  the  salvation  of  their  souls, 
to  be  put  off  to  an  indefinite  period,  while  in  the  mean  time 
their  minds  were  kept  in  anguish,  and  many  thousands  must 
end  their  days  in  anxiety  and  doubt.     Certainly,"  they  say, 

*  See  p.  118. 


268        PROGRESS  OF  REFORMATION. 

"  the  Word  of  God,  which  was  revealed  to  us  by  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour,  ought  to  be  the  only  rule  which  the  church 
should  follow  ;  and  if  any  thing  had  crept  in  contrary  to  that 
standard,  it  ought  to  be  rejected,  to  whatever  antiquity  it 
might  lay  claim."  They  implore  him,  therefore,  "  by  the 
death  of  Christ,  by  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  by  that 
judgment  which  shall  pass  upon  all  men,  that  he  would 
allow  them,  seeing  they  were  not  corrupted  by  any  sectarian 
principles,  to  live  in  the  true  and  pure  religion,  and  to  enjoy 
the  benefit  of  the  peace  lately  made  in  the  diet  with  those 
who  professed  the  Confession  of  Augsburg."    - 

Ferdinand,  in  reply,  told  them  that  he  could  not  grant 
their  petition, — not  for. want  of  inclination  to  gratify  them, 
but  because  the  thing  itself  was  unlawful,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  bound  to  hear  the  church.  He  admitted  that  they  were 
no  less  included  in  the  peace  of  religion  than  the  subjects 
of  any  other  German  prince  :  but  then  "  the  plain  meaning 
of  the  decree  was,  that  the  people  should  follow  the  religion 
of  their  prince  ;  giving  liberty,  however,  to  those  who  were 
not  satisfied  with  that  religion,  to  sell  their  estates,  and  to 
remove  whither  they  pleased." 

The  subjects  of  Albert  Duke  of  Bavaria  also  were  about 
this  time  "  very  troublesome"  to  him,  by  demands  similar  to 
those  made  upon  his  father-in-law  Ferdinand  by  the  Aus- 
trians.  But  they  had  little  better  success  ;  and  to  this  day 
these  two  countries,  where  the  chains  of  religious  bondage 
are  riveted  by  the  hand  of  civil  despotism,  remain  more 
under  the  power  of  Romish  superstition  than  perhaps  any 
others  in  Germany. 

The  Polish  ambassador,  we  are  likewise  told,  who  had 
come  to  congratulate  the  pope  on  his  elevation,  marred  all 
his  intended  compliments,  and  gave  the  most  intolerable 
offence  by  demanding,  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  kingdom, 
that  mass  should  be  celebrated  among  them  in  the  vernacu- 
lar language,  the  Eucharist  administered  in  both  kinds,  mar- 
riage allowed  to  the  clergy,  the  payment  of  annates  abol- 
ished, and  a  national  council  assembled  in  Poland  to  reform 
abuses  and  settle  disputed  doctrines. 

Even  in  Spain  indications  were  found  of  a  vast  scheme 
being  on  foot  for  the  propagation  of  the  opinions  of  Luther 
throughout  the  Peninsula  :  but  the  seeds  of  Protestantism 


PERSECUTIONS.  269 

were  crushed  in  the  very  infancy  of  their  growth  in  that 
country  by  the  iron  hand  of  the  Inquisition.* 

At  the  same  time,  whatever  had  been  wanting  to  the 
complete  reformation  of  the  Palatinate  was  suppUed  by  the 
accession  of  Otho  Henry  to  the  electoral  dignity.  He  pro- 
hibited the  performance  of  masg  and  the  use  of  the  Romish 
ceremonies  throughout  his  dominions. t 

These  accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  reformation  give 
evidence  that  persecution  still  more  or  less  attended  it. 
This  was  from  time  to  time  carried  on  with  great  severity 
in  France  ;  and  the  latter  part  of  the  period  which  we 
have  been  reviewuig  was  that  of  the  Marian  persecution  in 
England. 

In  his  reply  to  the  states  of  Austria,  Ferdinand  hoasted 
that  he  had  never  compelled  any  man  to  forsake  "the  true 
religion,"  nor  ever  would  do  it  :  but  we  must  allow  him  to 
put  his  own  interpretation  exclusively  on  the  term,  in  order 
to  give  even  the  semblance  of  truth  to  the  declaration.  One 
of  the  circumstances  which  had  rendered  his  opening  speech 
in  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  in  1555,  alarming  to  the  Protestants 
was,  that  it  was  accompanied  by  the  report  that  he  had 
banished  about  two  hundred  ministers  out  of  Bohemia — a 
report  which  was  soon  too  fully  confirmed.  To  these  exiles 
Melancthon  wrote  a  letter,  in  the  name  of  himself  and  his 
friends  at  Wittemberg,  from  which  some  extracts  may  here 
be  given.  It  is  dated  February  13,  1555,  and  is  addressed 
*'  to  the  venerable  and  learned  pastors  teaching  the  true 
doctrines  of  the  gospel  on  the  borders  of  Bohemia  and  Lu- 
satia."  Probably  when  driven  out  of  Bohemia  they  might 
jemain  in  Lusatia  (which  was  for  the  most  part  subject  to 
the  Elector  of  Saxony),  near  to  their  former  residence  ;  or 
some  of  them  might  not  yet  be  actually  expelled  ;  which 
may  account  for  what  is  said  of  their  still  continuing  to  con- 
firm their  people.  "  We  are  greatly  distressed  at  the  news 
of  your  exile,  both  for  your  sakes  and  for  the  sake  of  your 
churches  ;  and  we  implore  the  Son  of  God,  who  hath  said, 
'  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans,'  to  relieve  these  calamities, 

and  to  afford  you  the  help  of  which  you  stand  in  need 

As  nothing  tends  more  to  support  the  mind  than  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  truth,  -present  to  your  flocks,  as  long 

*  M'Crie's  Reform,  in  Spain.  *  See  p.  178 

Z2 


270  CONTROVERSIES. 

as  it  is  in  your  power  to  hold  communication  with  them,  the 
two  systems  in  strong  contrast  to  one  another.  The  papal 
faction  uphold  manifest  idolatry — the  invocation  of  the  dead, 
with  many  monstrous  superstitions  growing  out  of  it.  They 
impiously  prostitute  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  for 
gain,  and  worship  the  bread  which  they  carry  in  procession. 
They  take  away  the  true  doctrine  of  the  gospel  concerning 
repentance,  invent  vain  satisfactions  for  sins,  torment  hum- 
ble consciences  by  the  confessions  which  they  make  neces- 
sary to  forgiveness,  destroy  the  consolation  proposed  to  us 
in  the  Son  of  God,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  establish 
modes  of  worship  of  human  invention.  Never  let  the  peo- 
ple think,  when  our  differences  are  on  such  points  as  these, 
that  we  excite  unnecessary  controversies.  Often,  there- 
fore, let  them  hear  a  summary  of  the  true  doctrine,  and  set 
before  them  the  solemn  sentences,  '  Flee  from  idolatry  :  If 
any  man  teach  another  gospel,  let  him  be  anathema  :  The 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  never  be  forgiven.' 
These  thunders  of  the  Word  of  God  fail  of  dismaying  the 
enemies  of  the  gospel,  many  of  whom  knowingly  oppose  the 
truth.  They  flatter  themselves,  and  feign  deceitful  pretexts 
for  their  conduct. — Be  sure  that  the  churches  of  these  parts 
will  never  be  wanting  to  you  when  they  can  render  you  any 
friendly  and  hospitable  services." 

It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  that,  beset  as  the  Protestant 
church  in  Germany  was  by  external  enemies,  it  should 
not  have  been  at  peace  within  itself  But  we  are  compelled 
again  to  advert  to  the  various  and  bitter  controversies  by 
which  it  was  agitated  from  the  very  termination  of  the 
Smalkaldic  war. 

The  sacramental  controversy  was  now  revived,  and  car- 
ried on  with  much  acrimony.  Hardenberg  of  Bremen,  a 
disciple  of  Melancthon's,  embraced  the  Zwinglian  doctrine  ; 
to  which  Melancthon  himself  is  believed  to  have  become 
less  and  less  averse  as  he  advanced  in  life  :  while  Westphal 
c^  Hamburgh  maintained  that  of  Luther;  and  Calvin,  Bul- 
linger,  and  John  a  Lasco  subsequently  engao-ed  in  the  dis- 
pute. Brentius,  w^ho  had  shown  himself  no  very  mild  par- 
tisan in  behalf  of  Luther's  doctrine  on  this  subject,  observes 
upon  it,  "  I  know  not  whether  any  thnig  more  obstructed 
the  cause  of  the  reformation  and  the  progre.sd  of  the  heavenly 


CONTROVERSIES.  271 

doctrine  than  this  controversy."  But  we  shall  enter  no 
further  into  the  painful  subject  than  to  transcribe  the  follow- 
ing remark,  which  has  been  made  upon  Luther's  conduct 
relative  to  it,  and  the  lesson  to  be  derived  from  the  review  of 
the  whole.  "No  historical  topic  can  be  more  instructive  to 
every  class  of  readers,  and  especially  to  those  whose  opin- 
ions may  have  weight  in  a  revival  of  religion,  than  this 
lamentable  discussion.  The  only  question  on  which  Luther 
lost  his  temper,  betrayed  his  cause,  injured  the  progress  of 
reformation,  grieved  the  Spirit  of  grace,  and  split  the  infant 
church,  was  that  in  which  he  was  most  clearly  icrong. .  . . 
Let  those  who  are  in  danger  of  magnifying  points  in  dispute 
be  warned  by  this  example.  Let  them  see  how  prone  to 
error  are  the  greatest  and  purest  minds  ;  let  them  be  slow 
in  committing  themselves  beyond  the  exact  prescriptions  of 
revealed  truth  ;  and,  above  all,  let  them  dread  erecting  such 
points  into  terms  of  communion,  and  creating  a  lasting 
division  in  the  affections  of  Christians.'"^ 

The  adiaphoristic  controversy  also  was  still  carried  on, 
and  extended  to  new  points,  with  bitter  animosity  against 
Melancthon  and  his  friends.  To  Flacius,  the  prime  leader 
on  the  other  side,  Melancthon  says,  in  1556,  "  You  claim 
great  credit  for  not  publishing  as  mine  a  letter  which  I 
never  wrote,  but  which  is  a  mere  forgery.  .  .  You  have  pub- 
lished the  Leipzig  formulary,  both  garbled  and  interpolated. 
What  moves  ■  you  to  attack  an  old  friend,  who  has  loved 
you,  with  such  arts  as  these  1" — To  the  pastors  of  the 
Saxon  churches  he  writes  on  the  same  subject :  "  I  receive 
in  silence  the  buffets  that  are  given  me,  yet  Flacius  and 
Gallust  never  cease  to  revile  mn.  Both  the  courts  of 
princes  and  the  people  are  excited  against  me  with  won- 
derful artifice  ;  yet  the  mischief  would  only  be  increased, 
and  fresh  controversies  raised,  should  I  answer  them.  I 
look  to  the  judgment  of  wise  and  good  men,' who  are  not 
alienated  from  me  by  the  clamours  and  calumnies  of  my 
adversaries.  I  am  cheered  by  the  hope  that  in  a  little  time, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Son  of  God,  I  shall  quit  the  con- 
fusions of  this  world,  and  join  the  church  in  the  heavenly 
state,  where  peace  reigns,  and  truth  is  contemplated  with 

*  Christian  Observer,  1827,  p.  46.  (By  the  present  Bishop  of  Calcutta.) 
T  Nicholas  Callus,  another  eager  partisan. 


272  CONTROVERSIES. 

unmixed  delight.  I  hope,  also,  that  an  enlightened  pos- 
terity will  judge  more  equitabl}'^  of  my  labours."  Melanc- 
thon,  however,  could  not  always  restrain  his  friends  within 
the  limits  which  he  prescribed  to  himself;  and  their  inter- 
position, we  are  told,  on  some  occasions  did  but  inflame  the 
existing  evil,  and  add  "  oil  to  the  fire." 

The  questions  relative  to  justification  will  be  more  inter- 
esting to  us.  The  notion  of  Osiander  upon  this  all-import- 
ant subject  has  been  already  explained.  He  held  that  we 
are  justified,  not  by  virtue  of  Christ's  obedience  unto  death 
for  us,  but  by  the  essential  righteousness  of  the  Divine 
nature,  in  some  mystical  manner  imparted  to  us,  and  dwell- 
ing in  us.  A  brief  remark  or  two  of  Melancthon's  upon 
this  dogma  are  all  that  need  be  quoted ;  but  some  notice 
of  its  author  may  not  be  without  instruction,  as  furnishing 
a  warning  against  vanity  and  self-conceit. 

Andrew  Osiander  (the  same  whose  niece  our  Cranmer 
married)  was  a  native  of  Bavaria,  who,  after  studying  at 
Wittemberg,  settled  in  his  own  country.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  talents  and  attainments,  being  in  particular 
master  of  a  popular  eloquence  ;  and  he  early  distinguished 
himself  in  the  cause  of  the  reformation.  But  all  his  more 
valuable  qualities  were  vitiated,  and  rendered  to  a  great 
degree  useless,  by  a  large  mixture  of  arrogance,  conceit,  and 
fondness  for  new  discoveries  in  religion.  Of  this  he  gave 
a  very  oftensive  proof  at  the  conference  of  Marpurg,  in 
l.'iSQ.  By  desire  of  the  landgrave,  each  of  the  divines  there 
present  was  to  preach  in  his  turn.  Luther  took  for  his 
subject  the  great  question,  "How  shall  a  man  be  just  with 
God  ?"  Osiander  the  next  day  took  the  same  text  as  Luther 
had  done,  and  "  philosophized  concerning  righteousness," 
with  such  refinement  as  disgusted  the  wiser  part  of  his 
hearers,  and  raised  a  suspicion  that  he  secretly  cherished 
more  novelties  than  he  Was  willing  to  avow.  To  his  ser- 
mons and  conversation,  however,  at  the  diet  of  Nuremberg, 
seven  years  after  this  time,  is  attributed  the  conversion  to 
the  Protestant  faith  of  the  elder  Albert  of  Brandenburg  :* 
whence,  on  quitting  his  situation  at  Nuremberg  at  the 
period  of  the  Interim,  Osiander,  at  Albert's  invitation,  re- 
moved into  Prussia,  to  the  university  then  recently  founded 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  209. 


CONTROVERSIES.  273 

at  Konigsberg.  -Dunno-  Luther's  lifetime  he  had  been  held 
under  restraint  by  the  influence  of  that  reformer,  but  after- 
ward, as  he  himself  flippantly  and  in  very  unbecoming 
language  expressed  it,  "  When  the  lion  was  dead,  he  cared 
not  for  the  foxes."  Hence  he  broached  many  strange  dog- 
mas, the  memory  of  which  was  soon  lost  in  that  concerning 
justification.  This  last  continued  to  excite  much  contro- 
versy for  some  time  after  the  death  of  its  author  in  15.52, 
till  at  length  the  dispute  was  happily  appeased,  and  the 
true  doctrine  of  the  reformation  publicly  established  in 
Prussia. 

Melancthon  remarks  on  Osiander's  notion  of  justification, 
"  Osiander  holds  that  we  are  righteous  by  the  divinity 
dwelling  in  us.  This  diflfers  little  from  the  doctrine  of  the 
heathen  philosophers,  who  taught  that  man  attains  not  to 
virtue  but  by  a  divine  influence.  We  also  readily  acknow- 
ledge that  God  dwells  in  the  regenerate,  so  as  to  produce 
not  only  virtuous  emotions,  but  even  the  commencement  of 
eternal  life— to  make  us  'partakers,'  as  St.  Peter  expresses 
it,  'of  a  divine  nature.'.  . .  But  then  there  exists  a  question 
of  another  kind  :  How  may  man  receive  remission  of  sins 
and  reconciliation  with  God  ?  or  have  righteousness  imputed, 
or  reckoned,  unto  him  ]  Is  this  from  the  in-dwelling  of 
Christ  in  us,  or  by  his  obedience  for  us  ]  .  .  .  Osiander  in 
effect  says  that  we  are  justified  by  our  renovation  to  holi- 
ness. We,  on  the  other  hand,  while  we  admit  the  necessity 
of  renovation,  hold  that  the  renewed  man  is  justified,  or 
accepted  of  God,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  obedience." 
Again,  "  I  regard  Osiander's  dogma  as  no  mere  strife  of 
words.  He  diflfers  from  our  churches  on  a  very  essential 
point,  and  obscures,  or  rather  destroys,  the  only  consolation 
provided  for  distressed  consciences  ;  seeing  he  leads  us  not 
to  the  promise  of  mercy,  through  the  obedience  of  the  Media- 
tor, but  directs  us  to  another  object." 

On  the  error  of  Lauterwald,  who  in  another  way  cor- 
rupted the  same  great  doctrine,  we  may  be  tempted  to  offer 
somewhat  larger  extracts,  because,  though  it  less  agitated 
the  Protestant  church  at  the  time,  it  was  a  species  of  error 
which  has  spread  its  influence  much  more  widely,  and  been 
much  more  permanent.  It  bordered  closely  on  what  was 
maintained  by  the  more  temperate  papists,  Pflug  at  Ratis- 
bon,  Gropper  at  Cologne,  and  Heldingus  in  the  Interim ; 


274  CONTROVERSIES. 

and  it  is  virtually  the  same  which  is  still  supported  by  great 
names  among  ourselves,  though  it  could  never  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  make  its  way  among  Protestants  in  the 
age  of  the  reformation. 

Matthias  Lauterwald  was  the  minister  of  Eperies,  in 
Upper  Hungary.  He  had  been  known  and  esteemed  at 
"Wittemberg,  but  was  fond  of  refinements,  and  too  prone  to 
contention.  His  sentiment  was,  that  our  repentance,  our 
love,  our  obedience,  are  all  included  in  the  faith  that  justifies 
us,  and  are  thus  conjointly  with  it  the  means  of  procuring 
us  the  benefit  of  Christ's  redemption.  On  this  Melancthon 
thus  speaks,  in  delivering  "  the  judgment  of  the  university 
of  Wittemberg,"  to  the  senate  of  Eperies,  in  the  year  1554. 
*'  Though  true  faith,  or  reliance  on  the  Saviour,  cannot 
exist  in  those  who  go  on  securely  in  their  sins,  and  are 
destitute  of  contrition,  yet  contrition  and  new  obedience 
are  not,  as  Lauterwald  would  make  them,  the  means  of 
applying  the  promise  of  grace.  Contrition  necessarily  pre- 
cedes ;  but  when  he  asks.  Whether  as  a  cause  or  means  1 
we  answer,  As  neither,  but  rather  as  a  wound,  or  the  feel- 
ing that  we  are  wounded,  precedes  a  cure. — The  whole 
human  race  is  obnoxious  to  the  dreadful  anger  of  God.  A 
sense  of  this  is  awakened  in  the  mind  either  by  the  ministry 
of  the  Word,  by  our  experiencing  the  consequences  of  sin, 
or  by  other  means.  Under  these  convictions  many  perish, 
quarrelling  with  the  Divine  judgment,  or  with  Epicurean 
contempt  setting  it  at  defiance.  Others,  casting  away  the 
arms  of  rebellion,  and  seeking  consolation  from  the  gospel, 
receive  remission  of  sins,  reconciliation  with  God,  justifica- 
tion, and  quickening  (or  renovation)  by  the  Holy  Ghost.. 
And  here  the  promise  is  embraced  and  applied  only  by 
faith,  or  affiance  in  the  Mediator,  and  not  on  account  of  our 
contrition,  or  the  virtues  that  follow  after.  Faith  relies 
only  on  the  Mediator,  or  on  the  mercies  promised  for  his 
sake  ;  in  which  the  heart  rests,  knowing  that  the  promises 
are  sure  in  him."— ^The  writer  then  quotes  some  apposite 
passages  of  Scripture,  Psalm  vi.  4,  Daniel  ix.  17,  18, 
Romans  iv.  16,  and  proceeds :  "  In  order  to  understand 
these  Scriptures,  we  must  cherish,  not  idle  speculations, 
but  true  convictions  of  sin,  and  the  genuine  consolation 
which  is  found  in  turning  to  God,  and  calling  upon  him 
daily.  We  teach  not  empty  refinements,  but  divine  truth  ; 
what  is  most  necessary  in  practice,  and  easily  intelligible 


CONTROVERSIES.  275 

to  pious  minds.  We  say,  that  men,  all  men,  ought  to  be 
convinced  of  sin  by  the  Word  of  God,  and,  under  this  alarm 
of  conscience,  to  fly  by  faith  to  the  Mediator;  and  that  by 
this  faith,  gratuitously,  not  for  the  sake  of  works  either 
antecedent  or  consequent,  remission  of  sins,  reconciliation 
with  God,  and  justification  are  received  ;  and  that  those 
who  thus  believe  in  the  Son  of  God  are  quickened  by  him, 
who  speaks  peace  to  their  consciences,  and  delivers  their 
hearts  from  the  pains  of  hell,  by  his  Spirit  given  unto  them  : 
and  that  thus  new  obedience  is  begun. — That  these  things 
take  place  in  true  conversion  is  matter  of  experience  to  all 
pious  persons. — Never  would  David  say  that  he  had  re- 
mission of  sins  for  the  sake  of  his  good  works  now  per- 
formed, either  in  whole  or  in  part. — Let  us  put  such  cor- 
ruptions of  the  truth  far  from  us,  and  not  suffer  humble 
souls  to  be  deprived  of  their  true  consolation.  Under  real 
distress  of  conscience,  no  ground  of  comfort  will  avail  but 
that  which  St.  Paul  lays  down,  '  Therefore  it  is  of  faith, 
that  it  might  be  by  grace,  to  the  end  the  promise  might  be 
sure.' " 

We  add  a  few  more  sentences  from  the  same  important 
paper.  "  Lauterwald's  corruption  of  the  doctrine  does  not 
differ  from  the  synecdoche  of  the  monks,*  who  say  that 
faith  justifies  us  as  being  the  originating  principle  of  love 
and  of  good  works.  But  the  fact  is  this,  nothing  but  faith 
laijs  hold  on  the  promise.  In  this,  faith  differs  from  all 
other  works,  that  it  alone  embraces  the  promise,  and  receives 
the  blessing  as  unmerited.  Other  works  offer  something  to 
God  :  nor  can  the  application  of  the  blessing  by  means  of 
works  be  understood  in  any  other  way,  than  that  they  effect 
it  by  some  merit  which  they  possess.  Lautervvald,  there- 
fore, while  he  rejects  the  name  of  merit,  retains  the  thing, 
and  imposes  upon  himself  by  vain  speculations. — As  to  his 
urging  that  grace  is  promised  to  a  complete  repentance,  if 
he  does  not  make  the  just  distinction  between  the  different 
things  comprehended  under  that  name,  and  assign  to  each 
its  proper  place  and  office,  we  do  not  admit  his  position. 
To  conintton  grace  is  promised,  as  healing  to  a  wound ; 
faith  applies  the  remedy  ;  but  in  no  sense  can  it  be  said  that 
pardon  is  promised  in  consideration  of  the  uorks  to  follow. 

*  By  which  faith  was  considered  as  a  compreiieusive  name  for  all 
Christian  graces  and  virtues. 


276  CONTROVERSIES. 

He  will  say,  perhaps,  this  is  only  reciting  our  constant 
ditty.  And  we  admit  that  we  do  constantly  repeat  the  same 
doctrine  on  this  subject,  because  no  other  is  true." 

It  must  be  superfluous  again  to  point  out  how  precisely 
this  is  the  doctrine  of  our  own  Articles  and  Homilies.  "  Be- 
cause by  faith,  given  us  of  God,  we  embrace  the  promise  of 
God's  mercy,  and  of  the  remission  of  sins — which  none 

OTHER  OF  OUR  VIRTUES  OR  WORKS  PROPERLY  DOTH there- 
fore the  Scripture  useth  to  say,  that  faith  without  works 
doth  justify."  "  Faith  doth  not  shut  out  repentance,  hope, 
love,  dread,  and  the  fear  of  God,  to  be  joined  with  faith  in 
every  man  that  is  justified  ;  but  it  shdtteth  them  out 
FROM  the  ofkice  OF  JUSTIFYING.  So  that,  although 
they  be   all   present   together,   yet  they  justify  not  all 

TOGETHER."*  ,  -•  ' 

Considerable  dispute  also  arose  about  this  time  concerning 
the  exclusive  term  onli/,  as  annexed  to  faith,  in  speaking 
of  justification.  Of  this,  however,  after  what  we  have 
already  seen,  our  notice  may  be  very  brief.  In  what  sense 
the  term  faith  only  was  and  is  applied  must  be  evident  tc 
every  candid  inquirer  ;  namely,  not  as  denying  the  co-exist- 
ence of  other  Christian  graces  along  with  faith  in  the  man 
that  is  justified,  but  only  as  excluding  them  from  the  office 
of  justifying  him  :  not,  again,  as  making  faith  to  be  his 
justif^^ing  righteousness,  but  only  the  link  which  connects 
him  with  the  Saviour,  by  whom,  and  for  whose  sake,  he  is 
justified.— Flacius,  it  seems,  accused  Melancthon  of  having 
given  up  the  exclusive  term  :  he  in  reply  declares,  "  I  never 
said,  I  never  wrote,  I  never  thought,  that  it  was  an  inaccu- 
racy, or  a  mere  refinement,  that  we  are  justified  by  faith 
only.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  said  and  written  more  in 
explanation  and  defence  of  this  form  of  speaking  than 
others  have  done.  When  our  adversaries  urged  that  the 
term  only  did  not  occur  in  the  Scriptures,  I  always  answered, 
that  exclusive  terms  were  frequently  repeated  by  St.  Paul 
upon  this  subject. — They  plead  that  faith  is  not  alone  in  us. 
I  admit  this  in  all  its  extent,  when  speaking  of  the  faith  to 
which  we  ascribe  justification  ;  and,  to  preclude  the  mis- 
understanding  of  the  subject  which  the  objection  supposes* 
I  have  said  that  I  would  not  contend  for  a  particular  term* 
and   have  sometimes  substituted  the  word  gratif:,  or  freely^ 

*  Honiiiy  o[  Salvation. 


CONTROVERSIES.  277 

which  St.  Paul,  a  master  in  the  use  cf  terms,  has  also  em- 
ployed."— Such  is  the  substance  of  Melancthon's  answer, 
frequently  repeated  ;  and  it  shows  the  whole  "  head  and 
front  of  his  offending,"  for  which  he  was  fiercely  assailed 
in  his  own  day,  and  for  which  unfounded  charges  are  still 
brought  against  him.* 

The  controversy  which  arose  concerning  the  necessity 
of  good  works  to  salvation  may  chiefly  deserve  to  be  noticed, 
as  affording  a  warning  against  pushing  to  an  extreme  sen- 
timents which  have  a  right  foundation,  and  are  in  their  just 
sense,  and  within  their  proper  limits,  of  essential  import- 
ance ;  or  against  deducing  extravagant  and  dangerous 
inferences  from  such  sentiments.  Even  Amsdorf,  the  old 
friend  of  Luther,  now  went  the  length  of  maintaining, 
"  that  good  works  not  only  were  not  necessary  to  salvation, 
but  were  an  obstruction  to  it !"  And  at  a  much  earlier 
period  Melancthon  writes,  "  Cordatus  stirs  up  against  me 
the  city,  the  surrounding  countries,  and  the  court  itself, 
because,  in  explaining  the  controversy  concerning  justifica- 
tion, I  said  that  renewed  obedience  was  necessary  to  salva- 
tion." Yet  these  persons  did  not  mean  to  be  antinomians, 
or  to  encourage  an  abuse  of  the  grace  of  God  ;  but  they 
had  unhappily  possessed  their  minds  with  the  idea,  that 
good  works  could  not  be  insisted  on  as  in  any  sense  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  without  their  being  made  necessary  to 
procure  it,  as  a  meritorious  cause. 

In  another  contention  into  which  Flacius  fell  wdth  Stri- 
gelius,  a  brother  professor  at  Jena,  he  is  said  to  have  gone 
the  extravagant  length  of  maintaining  "  that  original  sin  is 
the  very  substance  of  human  nature,"  and  to  have  persisted 
in  this  strange  position  to  his  dying  day. 

We  shall  here  notice  only  one  more  of  these  harassing 
controversies.  This  was  raised  by  Francesco  Stancari,  a 
native  of  Mantua,  but  a  professor  in  the  university  of  Kon- 
igsberg,  who,  being  compelled  to  quit  his  situation  in  con- 
sequence of  his  opposition  to  the  dogma  of  Osiander,  retired 
to  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  He  is  described  as  a  man  of  a 
turbulent  spirit,  and  he  fell  into  the  error  of  supposing  that 
he  had  somevv'hat  of  importance  to  teach  the  church,  in 
maintaining  that  the  mediatorial  office  of  our  Saviour  was 


Vol,  II.— a 


See  p.  242-244 


278  REFLECTIONS    ON 

(lischarged  exclusively  in  his  human  nature.  We  sh&ll 
transcribe  a  short  sentence  from  Melancthon  upon  the 
subject.  "  I  hesitate  not,"  he  says,  "  to  pronounce  Stan- 
cari's  notion  an  error :  for  to  the  Mediator  it  belongs  not 
only  to  die,  but  that  his  death  should  be  an  equivalent  ran- 
som for  men,  and  that  he  should  be  the  conqueror  of  death. 
Also,  that  he  should  be  a  priest  entering  into  the  holiest  of 
all — 'into  the  secret  council  of  the  Most  High.  Yea,  more- 
over, that  he  should  sanctify  the  hearts  of  men  by  giving  to 
them  his  Holy  Spirit.  But  these  things  belong  to  the 
divine  nature." 

All  these  scenes  of  fierce  controversy,  so  soon  rising  in 
the  reformed  churches,  present,  no  doubt,  a  mournful  spec- 
tacle. They  wofully  display  the  tendencies  of  human  na- 
ture, and  the  art  and  malice  of  the  great  enemy  of  divine 
truth  and  human  happiness.  Defects  may  probably  be 
pointed  out,  through  which  the  Lutheran  church  failed  of 
opposing  the  proper  checks  to  a  rising  spirit  of  contention 
and  insubordination :  yet  even  these  defects,  with  all  their  con- 
sequences, afford  not  that  matter  of  trium.ph  to  the  Romanist 
which  he  affects  to  find  in  them.  It  is  better  to  have  some 
disorder  than  the  stiHness  of  universal  death.  Besides,  no 
such  unity  as  he  boasts  has  existed  in  his  own  church  :  as 
the  history  of  the  council  of  Trent,  to  make  no  other  ap- 
peal, abundantly  demonstrates. — But  the  narrative  before  us 
affords  most  important  and  seasonable  warning  to  ourselves. 
Fierce  contentions  have  too  frequently  followed  close  upon 
remarkable  revivals  of  religion,  and  have  deformed  their 
character  and  arrested  their  progress.  These  contentions 
have  in  great  part  arisen  from  well-intentioned  and  zeal- 
ous men  pushing  things  to  extremes,  being  too  impatient  to 
allow  themselves  to  pause  in  order  to  define  and  explain, 
and  thus  drowning  the  voice  of  truth  amid  the  din  of  loud 
assertion  and  impetuous  dispute.  But  that  which  was  vio- 
lent and  extreme  could  never  continue  long  :  it  is  not  in 
the  nature  of  things  that  it  should  do  so.  With  the  tem- 
perate, and  the  calm,  and  the  moderate — provided  only  that 
they  do  not  compromise  substantial  truth — is  wisdom ;  and 
with  them  also  is  endurance ;  while  that  which  carries 
things  beyond  all  due  bounds  soon  passes  off:  nay,  very 
commonly  it  opens  the  wa)'^  for  that  which  is  in  the  con- 
trary extreme  to  succeed  it.  The  overstrained  discipline  of 
the  Novatians,  refusing  to  restore  the  lapsed,  and  insistirig 


THE    CONTROVERSIES.  279 

on  rebaptizing  those  who  had  received  the  initiatory  sacra- 
ment from  the  hands  of  heretics,  was  soon  generally  con- 
demned ;  and  it  disappeared.  The  high  Presbyterianism, 
which  insisted  that  its  form  of  church  government  in  all  its 
parts,  with  all  the  rules  for  the  conduct  of  public  worship, 
was  to  be  found  in  Scripture,  and  that  not  the  minutest  ob- 
servance was  to  be  admitted  which  was  not  prescribed 
there,  has  long  since  given  way  before  the  more  temperate 
doctrine  for  which  Hooker  contended.  The  fierce  opposi- 
tion which  was  once  made  to  surplices  and  bands  and  gowns 
is  now  lamented  by  all  parties,  and  some  of  these  vestments 
are  adopted  even  by  the  successors  of  those  who  led  that 
opposition.  And  where  has  u///a-Calvinism  ever  lono-  main- 
tained its  ground  ?  In  short  every  thing  extreme  is  studi- 
ously to  be  avoided,  if  we  would  durably  promote  the  true 
interests  of  the  church  of  Christ.  This  is  a  lesson  which 
may  much  need  to  be  regarded  in  our  day.  True  religion 
has  been  extensively  revived  :  the  genuine  doctrines  of  the 
reformation,  which  are  those  of  the  gospel  itself,  have 
spread  to  an  extent  hardly  ever  before  known  among  us  : 
we  are  to  guard,  no  doubt,  against  those  who  would  tam- 
per with  them,  and  dilute  them,  and  frustrate  their  efficacy 
by  worldly  associations  and  a  worldly  spirit :  but  we  are  no 
less  to  guard  against  those  who  would  carry  them  to  an  ex- 
treme ;  who  would  overstate  and  overstrain  them ;  who 
would  vitiate  them  by  unscriptural  inferences,  and  lay 
them  open  to  antinomian  abuse  by  crude  and  unwar- 
ranted statements  ;  or  who  disgrace  them  by  violence  of 
spirit,  and  a  contemptuous  treatment  of  such  as  cannot  go 
their  lengths.  By  such  proceedings  the  seeds  of  decay 
were  sown  in  the  Lutheran  church  at  a  very  early  period  : 
and,  as  Romish  superstition  has  generated  infidelity,  so  it  is 
to  be  apprehended  that  the  refinements  and  the  contentions 
which  followed  the  death  of  Luther,  might  do  much  towards 
gradually  preparing  the  way  for  the  neology  and  the  other 
abominations  of  modern  German  Protestantism.*  "Be not 
high-minded,  but  fear.  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth 
take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

*  In  the  fancies  of  Caspar  Schwenckfeldt,  apparently  a  pioiLs,  but  a 
weak  and  enthui.iasfic  rnan,  who  caused  some  trouble  to  the  reformers, 
we  may  p'^rhaps  trace  somewhat  of  the  mijsticis-in  which  infests  Protest- 
ant Germany  ;  while  Thammer,  of  whom  Melancthon  asserts,  that  he 
"  transformed  the  gospel  into  heathenish  allegories,"  may  have  afforded 
an  early  spociinea  of  modern  German  neologism. 


280  melancthon's 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Remamder  of  Melancthon^s  History — Further  Extracts  from 
his  Epistles — His  Works — Notices  of  Lutheran  Reformers. 

The  character  and  services  of  Melancthon,  his  intimate 
connexion  with  the  reformation  during  the  whole  of  its  pro- 
gress, and  the  leading  station  which  he  occupied  ever  after 
the  death  of  Luther,  all  peculiarly  entitle  him  to  our  high 
regard,  and  render  it  proper  that,  though  we  have  traced  the 
Lutheran  reformation  to  its  regular  and  peaceful  establish- 
ment in  Germany,  we  should  not  close  our  history  without 
attending  him  to  the  end  of  his  earthly  career. 

Melancthon  survived  the  peace  of  religion  five  years, 
which  were  laboriously  employed,  as  the  preceding  thirty- 
seven  had  been,  in  the  service  of  sound  learning  and  divine 
truth.  He  continued  to  the  last  involved  in  those  contro- 
versies which  we  have  lamented  as  dividing  and  deforming 
the  Lutheran  church  after  the  death  of  its  founder :  but  our 
notice  of  his  writings  in  that  department  has  been  already 
so  far  extended  into  these  last  years  of  his  life,  that  we  shall 
have  little  occasion  to  return  to  them.  In  this  his  closing 
stage  we  find  him,  from  the  change  of  circumstances  produced 
by  the  peace  now  established,  less  engaged  than  formerly  in 
public  negotiations  in  the  cause  of  religion.  Still  however 
he  was  not  without  employment  of  that  kind.  In  1555  he 
went  to  Nuremberg,  accompanied  by  Aless  (a  Scotch  divine, 
settled  in  Germany),  and  Camerarius,  for  the  purpose  of 
endeavouring  to  heal  the  divisions  which  had  been  occa- 
sioned in  that  city  by  the  dogmas  of  Osiander  ;  and  his  ex- 
ertions were  crowned  with  success.  He  comprised  in  a  clear 
and  pacific  paper,  in  which  no  censure  was  passed  upon  any 
individual,  the  doctrines  to  be  approved  or  disapproved  on  the 
points  at  issue  ;  and  this  paper  he  submitted  to  the  clergy 
of  the  place,  begging  them  freely  to  canvass  it,  that  they 
might,  if  possible,  come  to  agreement  upon  it,  and  then, 
"by  common  consent,  exhibit  an  instance  of  that  unanimity 
which  the  Son  of  God  had  so  ardently  prayed  for  on  behalf 


LATTER    YEARS.  281 

of  his  church."  The  proceeding  had  the  happiest  issue,  in 
the  restoration  of  peace  among  the  pastors  and  reHgious 
communities  of  that  city. 

In  the  year  1557  the  vain  attempt  was  once  more  re- 
newed, by  a  pubUe  conference  held  at  Worms,  under  the 
presidency  of  JuUus  Pflug,  to  reconcile  the  existing  reli- 
gious diiferences  of  the  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics-, 
and  Melancthon  was  deputed  to  the  meeting  by  Augustus 
Elector  of  Saxony.  But  the  conference  was  soon  termi- 
nated by  the  Romanists'  first  demanding,  as  a  measure  pre- 
liminary to  the  discussion  of  any  form  of  concord,  that  all 
Zwinglians,  Osiandrists,  and  Flacians  should  be  condemned 
by  name  ;  and  the  deputies  from  the  princes  of  Saxe-Wei- 
mar  (the  sons  of  John  Frederic),  requiring  that  all  adiapho- 
rists,  synergists,  Majorists  (terms  applied  to  Melancthon 
and  his  friends),  and  others  of  a  like  description,  should  be 
included  with  the  Zwinglians  in  this  condemnation.  It 
was  probably  the  design  of  the  papists  by  their  proposal  to 
divide  the  Protestants  ;  an  object  in  which  the  deputies 
from  Weimar,  who  were  favourable  to  Flacius,  unwittingly 
seconded  them.  Hence  no  point  appears  to  have  come 
under  discussion  in  this  conference  beyond  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  the  rule  of  judgment — which  Melancthon  and  his 
friends,  of  course,  maintained  to  be  the  Scriptures  alone. 

In  an  interval  of  this  conference,  while  a  deputation  was 
sent  to  King  Ferdinand  to  learn  his  pleasure  concerning 
the  course  of , procedure,  Melancthon  accepted  an  invi- 
tation from  Otho  Henry  Elector  Palatine,  to  visit  Hei- 
delberg, in  order  to  arrange  a  plan  for  the  conduct  of 
the  university  now  established  there.  While  at  this  place, 
,he  received  the  melancholy  intelligence  of  the  death  of  his 
wife,  with  whom  he  had  lived  in  harmony  and  happiness  for 
thirty-seven  years.  His  friend  Camerarius  came  over  to 
Heidelberg  to  communicate  the  painful  tidings  to  him ; 
which  he  did  while  they  were  together  in  the  elector's  gar- 
dens. The  good  man,  as  one  wearied  with  the  struggles  of 
life,  and  anticipating  his  own  departure,  though  much  af- 
fected at  the  intelligence,  made  scarcely  any  other  remark 
at  the  time  than  this,  "  I  shall  soon  follow  her." 

The  next  year,  he  again  maintained  the  Protestant  cause 
against   Staphylus  and  Avius,  the  former  of  whom  was  an 
apostate  frora  Lutheranism — once  the  pupil  and  disciple,  and 
A  a  2 


282  DEATH    OF 

afterward  the  malignant  enemy,  of  Melancthon. — Besides 
his  writings, — which,  we  are  told,  were  chiefly  the  product  of 
early  morning  hours — Melancthon  still  persevered  in  his  in- 
defatigable labours  as  a  professor  in  the  university ;  in  which 
character  he  had  been  accustomed  to  deliver  two,  and  often 
three,  or  even  four  lectures  in  the  day.  His  last  lecture,  in 
which  he  explained  part  of  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
was  given  April  12,  1560.  He  had  been  previously  at  Leip- 
zig, attending  an  annual  examination  of  the  students  of  the 
university,  and  had  taken  cold  on  his  return.  Intermitting 
fever  now  came  on.  He  still  however  continued  to  write  ; 
and  he  wished  again  to  lecture  on  the  14th  of  April,  but 
was  prevented  by  his  friend  Camerarius,  who  had  come 
from  Leipzig  to  visit  him,  on  account  of  his  illness.  With 
him  he  discoursed  on  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  Having  a 
desire  to  depart,  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better." 
On  the  18th  day  of  the  month  he  attempted  to  write  out  his 
will  afresh,  but  was  unable  to  finish  it.  In  what  he  did  put 
down,  however,  he  observed,  that  "  he  wished  to  have  what 
he  had  written  in  opposition  to  the  papists,  anabaptists, 
Flacians,  and  others,  in  his  reply  to  the  Bavarian  Articles,* 
considered  as  the  confession  of  his  faith."  The  next  day, 
about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  expired  in  peace,  offer- 
ing up  prayers  and  expressing  kind  wishes  for  all  about  him. 
He  was  sixty-three  years  of  age,  during  forty-tw^o  of  which 
he  had  been  connected  with  the  university  of  Wittemberg. 
On  the  21st  of  April  his  remains  were  honourably  interred, 
near  to  those  of  his  illustrious  friend  Luther,  in  AH  Saints' 
church. 

A  short  time  before  his  death,  he  wrote  in  parallel  columns 
a  fragment  of  reasons  why  we  ought  not  to  be  unwilling 
to  die.     They  are  apparently  addressed  to  himself. 

"  On  the  one  hand —  "  On  the  other  hand — 

You  shall  depart  from  your  sins.  You  shall  come  into  the  light. 

You  shall  see  God. 

You  shall  be  released  from  trou-  You  shall  behold  the  Son  of  God. 

bles,  and  from  the  fierce  con-  You  .shall  learn  those  hidden  m\'s- 

teutions  of  polemics,  teries  which  you  could  not  in 

this  life  comprehend— Why  we 

are  in  our  present  condition — 

What  is  the  union  of  the  two 

natures  in  the  person  of  Christ." 

*  See  below,  p.  305. 


MELANCTHON.  283 

We  add  the  following  particulars  from  a  second  life  of 
him  inserted  by  Melchior  Adam  in  his  biography  of  philoso- 
phers, in  addition  to  that  which  he  had  given  in  his  biog- 
raphy of  divines. 

"  He  frequently  in  his  latter  years,  and  particularly  in  the 
last  months  of  his  life,  bewailed  with  many  tears  the  dis- 
cords of  the  reformed  churches,  and  implored  in  ardent 
prayers  that  God  would  heal  these  divisions.  This  subject 
seemed  to  be  perpetually  in  his  heart  and  on  his  tongue. 
When  his  friend  and  physician  Winsheim  visited  him,  and 
expressed  his  fears  that  with  his  feeble  and  reduced  frame 
he  would  ill  sustain  the  attacks  of  his  disease,  he  replied, 
with  a  smile,  '  I  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ.' — 
To  Peucer,  his  son-in-law,  he  said  the  day  before  his  death, 
'  My  illness  does  not  disturb  me  :  I  have  no  anxiety  or  mat- 
ter of  care  but  one — that  the  churches  may  be  at  peace  in 
Christ  Jesus.'  He  frequently  before  his  death  repeated  the 
Saviour's  prayer,  'that  they  may  be  one  in  us,  as  we  also 
are  one  :'  and  frequently  this  sentence  of  St.  Paul,  '  Christ 
Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption.'  A  little  time  be- 
fore he  expired,  Eber,  Chief  Pastor  of  Wittemberg,  reciting 
to  him  the  words,  '  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave 
he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God  ;'  he  raised  his  hands 
and  eyes,  and  said,  '  That  sentence  is  ever  in  my  thoughts  !' 
His  son-in  law  having  asked  if  he  wished  for  any  thing, 
he  said,  '  Nothing  but  heaven ;'  and  begged  that  he  might 
not  be  disturbed.  At  the  close,  as  long  as  he  could  articulate, 
he  repealed  the  words,  '  O  God,  compassionate  me  through 
thy  Son  Jesus  Christ !'  and  again,  '  In  thee,  O  Jjord,  have  I 
trusted,  let  me  never  be  confounded  !'  His  faculties  were 
clear  to  the  last,  and  his  decease  literally  resembled  a  fall- 
ing sleep." 

Thus  lived,  thus  taught,  and  thus  died  the  man  of  whom 
Bossuet,*  in  concluding  the  notice  which  he  thinks  pro- 
per to  take  of  him,  can  find  nothing  better,  nor  any  thing 
more  correct  to  say,  than  what  is  contained  in  the  following 
sentence  :  "  He  was  respected,  as  appeared,  by  the  church 
of  Wittemberg,  but  the  grievous  restraints  he  lay  under,  and 
the  measures  he  was  forced  to  follow,  prevented  his  speaking 

*  The  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Means 


284  CHARACTER    OF 

all  he  thought;  and  in  this  state  he  ended  his  miserable 
life,  in  1560  !" 

Melancthon  is  a  character  with  whom  it  is  impossible  to 
become  conversant  without  being  in  danger  of  contracting 
for  him  even  an  excessive  partiality.  I  have  felt  that  I  was 
exposed  to  this  bias  in  writing  of  him  :  and  I  am  aware 
that  I  have  made  a  more  favourable  representation  of  his 
course,  and  of  the  ground  that  he  occupied  after  the  death 
of  Luther,  than  is  generally  received :  but  I  desire  to  have 
my  statements  admitted  no  further  than  they  are  drawn  from 
authentic  sources.  I  have  endeavoured  to  trace,  not  from 
the  fallacious  reports  of  others  concerning  him,  but  from  his 
own  papers,  what  part  he  actually  took  in  the  controversies 
respecting  the  Interim,  and  the  adiaphoristic  points — which 
I  cannot  but  feel  confident  has  not  been  done  by  many  who 
have  censured  him  :  and  thus  I  trust  I  have  satisfactorily 
vindicated  him  from  numerous  charges  of  pusillanimity,  and 
unworthy  concession  and  compromise  ;  and  have  shown 
that,  in  some  of  the  most  important  cases,  he  was  even  he- 
roically firm,  where  the  very  contrary  has  been  imputed  to 
him.  I  cannot  but  suppose  that  many  who  have  given  cur- 
rency to  disadvantageous  accounts  of  his  conduct  have  not 
had  recourse  to  his  own  writings,  or  to  other  original  docu- 
ments :  they  rather  seem,  having  heard  the  charges  of  his 
opponents,  and  considered  his  reputed  character,  to  have  in- 
ferred how  it  v^^as  likely  that  a  man  of  his  temper  should  act, 
than  to  have  inquired  how  he  really  did  act.  Thus  to  ap- 
portion praise  or  blame  upon  speculative  grounds,  and  not 
upon  an  actual  examination  of  facts,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  not 
uncommon  even  with  historians  of  reputation.  My  im- 
pression is,  that  the  fault  of  Melancthon's  character  was 
not,  as  it  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been,  timidity,  at 
least  in  the  sense  of  a  hesitation  to  avow  his  sentiments,  or 
a  dread  of  personal  danger — for  many  facts  demonstrate 
his  bold  disregard  even  of  life  itself  in  the  cause  which  he 
had  undertaken  ;  but  rather  a  morbid  fear  of  deciding  amiss  ; 
a  fastidiousness  whicli  could  never  satisfy  itself;  together 
with  such  an  excessive  and,  considering  in  whose  hands 
the  direction  of  the  alTairs  of  the  church  is  really  placed, 
such  a  superfluous  anxiety  for  its  peace  and  unity,  as  some- 
times exposed  him  to  the  danger  of  making  undue  sacrifices 
for  this  all  but  invaluable  object.     Yet,  if  any  imagine  that 


MELANCTHON.  285 

it  was  at  all  a  part  of  his  plan  to  compromise  disputed 
points  by  the  use  of  ambiguous  terms,  which  each  party 
might  construe  in  its  own  favour,  I  can  only  observe,  that 
there  is  no  practice  against  which  he  more  frequently  and 
more  strongly  protests.  He  was  fully  aware,  that  what  is 
thus  unsoundly  healed  breaks  out  afresh  with  aggravated 
virulence.  His  constant  maxim  was,  "  ambiguous  terms 
only  generate  new  controversies."'^ 

On  the  whole,  after  reading  nearly  two  thousand  of  his 
letters,  and  numerous  others  of  his  papers  and  writings,  I 
confess  that  I  cannot  but  regard  him  as  affording  one  of  the 
loveliest  specimens  of  the  grace  of  God  ever  exhibited  in 
our  fallen  nature.  It  is  quite  superfluous  to  speak  of  his 
talents,  his  learning,  his  taste — they  are  known  and  ap- 
plauded by  all.  Luther  thus  broke  forth  respecting  him 
when  he  came  to  Wittemberg  a  mere  stripling :  "  Philip 
delivered  an  oration  the  fourth  day  after  his  arrival,  replete 
with  learning  and  elegance,  so  as  to  captivate  the  esteem 
and  admiration  of  all.  We  soon  turned  off  our  eyes  and 
our  thoughts  from  his  stature  and  appearance,  to  admire  the 
furniture  of  his  mind."  He  immediately  commenced 
courses  of  lecture  on  Homer,  and  on  St.  Paul's  epistle  to 
Titus,  and  then  Luther  was  left  at  a  loss  for  words  to  ex- 
press his  sentiments  concerning  him.  "He  has  a  crowded 
audience,"  he  says,  "and  he  fires  us  all,  from  our  first 
divines  to  our  humblest  students,  with  zeal  for  the  study  of 
Greek."  And  again  :  "  He  is  a  mere  child,  if  you  consider 
his  age,  but  his  acquaintance  with  all  kinds  of  learning  is 
astonishing."  Erasmus  also  thus  wrote  concerning  him  as 
early  as  the  year  1515  :  "  What  hopes  may  we  not  conceive 
of  Philip  Melancthon  1  Though  yet  very  young  and  almost 
a  boy,  he  is  equally  to  be  admired  for  his  proficiency  in  both 
languages.  What  quickness  of  invention — what  purity  of 
diction — what  vastness  of  memory — what  variety  of  read- 
ing— what  modesty  and  noble  gracefulness  of  behaviour !" 

*  "  Historians  have  applied"  the  term  timid  to  Melancthon  "  with  great 
incaution."  "  The  hesitation  of  Melancthon  in  deciding  upon  new  sub- 
jects, or  in  difficult  cases resulted  not  so  much  from  timidity  as  from 

conscieiUious  scruples  of  mind.  It  was  not  that  he  feared  temporal,  but 
moral  consequences."  Again  :  "  Those  who  are  solicitous  of  forming  a 
correct  idea  of  him  will  rather  deem  it  slanderous  than  descriptive  to 
<;aU  him  the  timid  Melancton."— Dr.  Cox,  Life  of  Mel. 


286  melancthon's 

But  that  which  peculiarly  strikes  us  in  reviewing  his  history 
is,  that  this  most  refined  and  gentle  spirit  passed  more  than 
forty  years — the  whole  of  his  mature  life — in  almost  inces- 
sant contention  against  corruptions  and  corrupters  of  Divine 
truth,  of  every  description — and  that,  without  ever  being 
either  soured  by  dispute,  or  reduced  to  silence  by  weariness 
and  disgust.  Seldom  does  a  sharp  expression  escape  him,  at 
least  in  any  public  writing,  or  in  any  address  to  an  opponent : 
yet  he  was  as  assiduous,  and  as  ready  to  take  up  his  wea- 
pons to  the  last,  as  at  any  former  period  of  his  life.  In  the 
words  of  his  son-in-law,  Peucer,  "  Neither  odium,  danger, 
trouble,  nor  ungrateful  returns  induced  him  to  throw  off  the 
burden  of  the  service  which  God  had  assigned  him,  though 
he  often  complained  that  it  was  heavier  than  he  could  well 
bear." 

In  now  taking  leave  of  his  character  and  history,  I  prO' 
pose  to  furnish  the  reader  with  some  additional  extracts, 
chiefly  from  his  epistles.  In  reading  over  these  generally 
simple  and  brief  effusions,  various  excellent  qualities  of  his 
temper  and  spirit  must  forcibly  strike  us  :  his  heavenly- 
mindedness — his  placability — his  persevering  diligence — his 
affection — his  anxiety  to  serve  his  friends— his  zeal  for  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  for  divine  truth — as  also  for  the  pro- 
motion of  education  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge — and 
his  liberality.  Most  or  all  of  these,  as  well  as  his  opinions 
on  several  important  topics,  will  receive  illustration  from 
the  extracts  which  follow.  We  will  arrange  them  under  some 
distinct  heads. 

I.  On  public  affairs,  and  the  peace  of  the  church. 

On  the  approaching  war  of  Smalkald,  supposing  the  ques- 
tion asked.  Would  he  approve  it,  and  instigate  his  party  to 
it  1  he  wisely  and  piously  answers,  "  that  he  would  never 
be  the  instigator  of  civil  war,  even  where  the  cause  was  just. 
Let  us  rather,"  he  says,  "  deplore  the  common  calamity  • 
let  us  teach  that  the  sins  of  both  parties  are  the  cause  of  it : 
let  us  exhort  the  people  to  implore  Almighty  God,  with  ar- 
dent supplications,  to  send  a  safe  and  religious  peace  :  let 
us  entreat  those  in  power  to  employ  their  influence  for  this 
purpose.  All  this  will  be  becoming  and  useful."  Alluding 
to  the  pretence  made  by  the  emperor's  party,  that  the  war 
was  not  waged  against  the  religion  of  the  Protestants,  Lq 


CORRESPONDENCE.  287 

says,  "  God  knows  what  is  really  their  object.  If  they  are 
guilty  of  falsehood  in  their  professed  intentions,  it  is  no 
crime,  however  it  may  be  a  weakness,  in  us  to  believe  them  ; 
and  God  will  punish  their  deceit." 

The  opening  of  a  letter  to  Paul  Rhodius  of  Stettin,  and 
the  other  Pomeranian  pastors,  in  which  he  kindly  pleads 
in  behalf  of  Artopaeus,  who  had  been  banished  from  among 
them  for  maintaining  the  dogma  of  Osiander,  but  had  now 
softened  down  or  altered  his  opinion,  is  striking.  "  Reve- 
rend and  dear  brethren,  no  more  ardent  voice  was  ever 
heard  in  heaven  or  in  earth  than  that  of  the  Son  of  God, 
pleading,  before  he  suffered,  that  the  Eternal  Father  would 
sanctify  his  church  through  the  truth,  and  make  it  one  in 
Him.  It  is  the  prayer  of  the  Son  of  God  that  the  truth 
may  be  known,  and  peace  preserved  in  his  church  :  that 
there  may  ever  be  a  portion,  at  least,  of  mankind  by  whom 
God  may  be  rightly  v.orshipped.  To  this  prayer  of  our  great 
High-priest,  the  Son  of  God,  we  join  our  earnest  suppli- 
cations, that  God  would  preserve  truth  and  peace  in  your 
churches,  and  in  ours. . .  .The  churches  subsisting  among 
you  were  organized  by  Bugenhagen  and  myself:  we  have 
therefore  a  peculiar  desire  for  their  constant  peace  and  pu- 
rity, that  they  and  we  may  at  length  give  thanks  together 
for  ever  in  the  blessed  society  of  the  heavenly  world." 

A  letter  to  Andrew  Musculus,  of  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,* 
displays  a  fine  spirit  of  frankness,  moderation,  and  charity. 
On  the  recommendation  of  Melancthon,  it  seems,  Musculus 
had  received  his  doctor's  degree  :  yet,  having  embraced 
certain  ascetic  and,  it  is  to  be  feared,  self-righteous  no- 
tions, he  was  now  condemning  the  whole  body  of  the  Lu- 
theran divines,  for  not  inculcating  fasting,  to  the  extent  of 
abstinence  from  food  for  two  or  three  days  together.  On 
such  grounds  he  ventured  to  affirm,  "  that  among  them  men 
were  not  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  repentance."  Nay, 
he  even  pronounced  them,  in  certain  respects,  "  worse  than 
idolaters."  Melancthon  mildly  combats  the  errors  of  Mus- 
culus ;  observes,  concerning  his  severe  sentences,  "  To  say 
the  least,  you  pronounce  too  harshly  ;"  yet  still  expresses^ 
his  affection  for  him :  and  observes,  "  I  think  all  teachers 


*  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  ■vvell-kno^\m  Wolfgang  MusctHtiiS  '»f 
Augsburg,  afterward  of  Berne. 


288  melancthon's 

of  religion,  who  agree  in  their  main  doctrines,  ought  to  be 
friends,  though  tiiey  may  not  express   themselves  in  the 

same  way  in  explaining  particular  points I  am  not 

so  bigoted  and  selfish  that  I  can  allow  no  one  to  diifer 
from  me." 

In  two  distinct  letters  to  our  Cranmer,  in  the  year  1548, 
he  highly  approves  the  primate's  purpose  of  drawing  up 
articles  of  religion,  and  urges  him  to  execute  his  design 
with  all  possible  exactness,  using  the  advice  of  the  ablest 
men,  who  should  in  the  end  sanction  what  was  agreed  upon 
with  their  signatures.  "  Nothing,"  he  says,  "  can  be  more 
important  than  a  measure  of  this  kind,  which  will  produce 
a  noble  testimony  to  the  true  doctrine,  in  the  sight  of  all 
nations,  and  hand  it  down  to  posterity  as  a  rule  which  they 
may  follow.  Such  a  confession  of  faith,  prepared  among 
you,  will  not  differ  much  from  ours.  There  are  a  few 
points  however  on  which  I  could  wish  it  to  be  a  'little  more 
explicit,  for  fear  that  ambiguous  expressions  should  give 
occasion  to  fresh  disputes." — He  then  adverts  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  emperor  respecting  the  Interim  :  "  He  is 
forming  a  scheme  for  the  termination  of  our  controversies, 
which  he  may  perhaps  publish :  but,  as  his  plan  is  to  unite 
the  parties  by  the  use  of  general  terms,  to  which  neither 
can  object  (but  which  determine  nothing),  he  will  only  ex- 
cite further  contentions.  At  the  same  time,  he  will  confirm 
existing  abuses.  In  the  church  we  should  by  all  means  call 
things  by  their  true  names  ;  by  any,  other  means  we  only 
throw  in  the  apple  of  discord  among  the  guests.  If  among 
us  unanimity  had  existed  in  the  churches,  we  should  not 
have  been  exposed  to  our  present  calamities.  By  all  means, 
therefore,  pursue  your  intention.  If  you  ask  my  opinion  and 
concurrence,  I  will  most  readily  both  give  my  own  senti- 
ments, with  the  grounds  of  them,  and  listen  to  those  of 
others — men  of  learning  and  piety.  May  truth  and  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  the  church,  and  not  any  pri- 
vate aflec  ions,  evermore  prevail !" 

What  he  thus  writes  to  Cranmer  corresponds  with  the 
earnest  wishes  which  he  elsewhere  repeatedly  expresses 
concerning  the  Protestant  chutches  at  large.  ^'  Would  to 
God  that  the  state  of  the  times  were  such,  that  a  number 
of  experienced  and  learned  men  might  meet  and  consult 
together  on  the  doctrines  to  be  maintained ! — men  who 
should  bring  to  the  discussion,  not  mutual  estrangementsy 


CORRESPONDENCE.  289 

not  perverseness,  not  ignorance,  not  arrogance,  not  sophis- 
try, not  the  vain  desires  of  contention  and  victory  ;  but  the 
fear  of  God,  learning,  the  love  of  truth,  care  to  cherish  and 
'promote  a  spirit  of  prayer,  modesty,  candour,  and  kindness 
one  towards  another,  a  readiness  to  be  convinced  themselves, 
as  well  as  a  wish  to  convince  others.  In  such  an  assembly, 
while  the  Word  and  Son  of  the  eternal  Father  governed  the 
hearts  of  all  concerned,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  made 
the  rule  of  their  decisions,  something  might  be  happily 
settled  in  the  churches,  both  for  the  present  age  and  for 
posterity." 

II.  We  will  next  give  some  extracts  illustrative  of  his 
temper  in  privat^e  life,  and  his  sentiments  respecting  its  sev- 
eral relations. 

Let  not  those  which  he  expresses  concerning  marriage 
and  the  female  sex  be  thought  unworthy  of  a  place  here. 
Thus  he  writes  to  a  friend  who  had  just  formed  this  union. 
— "  Stigelius*  calls  the  married  state  '  a  divinely  appointed 
school  of  human  life.'  The  truth  and  importance  of  this 
representation  might  furnish  the  theme  of  a  long  discourse. 
The  establishment  of  such  an  order  of  things,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  adhering  to  it  for  the  well-being  of  society,  attest 
the  government  of  God,  and  illustrate  his  character.  The 
preservation  of  human  society  demonstrates  the  presence 
of  God  with  us  :  and  those  who  live  holily  in  wedlock  find 
the  proofs  of  that  presence  on  many  trying  occasions.  This 
state  brings  with  it  the  exercise  of  numerous  virtues.  That 
you  have  determined  therefore  to  comply  with  this  divine 
appointroeiic  Is  a  thing  pleasing  to  God  :  and  I  pray  him  to 
bestow  upon  you  and  your  wife  all  happiness  in  your 
union." — To  another  he  expresses  himself  still  more 
strongly  :  "  I  commend  your  choosing  this  state  of  Ufe,  and 
wish  you  every  blessing  in  it.  Married  life  appears  to  me 
a  sort  of  philosophical  discipline,  training  persons  to  hon- 
ourable duties,  worthy  of  the  good  and  wise.  Few  unmar- 
ried people  are  affected  as  they  ought  to  be  towards  the 
public  good,  and  perceive  what  are  really  the  most  import- 
ant objects  in  life." 

He  is  much  pleased  with  Pythagoras's  remask  on  the  hus- 
band's receiving  his  bride  from  the  altar,  as  if  to   remind 

*  A  professor  at  Jena,  and  an  elegant  Latin  poet. 
Vol.  II— B  b 


290  melancthon's 

him  that,  like  a  suppliant  who  had  taken  refuge  there,  she 
had  a  religious  claim  to  his  protection,  and  that  the  Deity 
would  avenge  his  infringement  of  his  duties  to  her.  TlieUy 
glancing  at  a  union  of  which  that  of  marriage  is  the 
Scriptural  emblem,  he  says,  "  And  such,  most  strictly,  is 
the  character  under  which  the  church  is  led  to  her  husband 
Christ,  as  a  suppliant"  whom  he  receives  into  the  honour- 
able relation  of  his  spouse. — "  Our  daughters  also,"  he  af- 
fectionately and  piously  remarks,  "  will  be  (like  suppliants 
at  the  altar)  the  objects  of  divine  care  and  protection. 
'  The  generation  of  the  righteous  shall  be  blessed.'  "  That 
"  good  awaits  the  children  of  the  pious,  of  which  others 
have  no  assurance,"  is  a  sentiment  which  he  often  repeats. 
At  this  very  time,  as  we  shall  see,  he  had  painful  occasion 
to  recur  to  such  consolations. 

Again:  "I  am  quite  indignant  at  those  misanthropic 
beings  who  think  it  a  proof  of  wisdom  to  despise  the  female 
sex.  Grant  that  that  sex  have  their  weaknesses  :  we  also 
have  our  faults.  ...  If  we  have  superior  force,  let  us  show 
it  in  protecting,  not  in  insulting  them.  Though  many  un- 
feeling spirits  may  neglect  such  duties,  God  demonstrates  in 
his  providence  a  peculiar  care  of  the  feebler  part  of  the 
species.  Birds  build  their  nests  for  their  mates  and  their 
young :  and  in  like  manner  cities  are  fortified,  and  the  la- 
bour of  governing  and  defending  them,  is  undertaken  for 
the  sake  of  women  and  children,  rather  than  of  men.  As 
often  then  as  you  look  upon  a  house  or  a  city,  reflect  that 
both  of  them  were  erected  for  the  mothers  of  our  chil- 
dren. And  if  God  in  his  providence  has  made  such  pro- 
vision for  your  wife  (now  in  her  confinement),  that  govern- 
ments, magistrates,  workmen,  houses,  cities,  castles,  are  all 
subservient  to  her  benefit,  do  not  think  it  burdensome  to 
bear  your  part  of  the  common  duty,  by  attending  assidu- 
ously upon  her. — Finally,  since  marriage  presents  an  image 
of  the  love  of  the  Son  of  God  to  his  church,  let  the  calls 
made  upon  you  in  domestic  hfe  remind  you,  that  he  has  the 
same  care  for  the  church  under  all  her  weaknesses,  which 
you  now  feel  for  your  wife. — For  my  part  I  have  often 
thought  of  composing  a  history  of  heroic  women — women 
who  have  endured  great  afflictions  with  piety  and  firmness. 
The  trials  of  my  own  family  have  suggested  this  to  me  : 
for  the  temper  of  mind  manifested  by  my  dear  daughter  has 
been  the  great  alleviation  of  the  bitter  grief  occasioned  me 


CORRESPONDENCE.  291 

by  her  calamity.  She  has  ever  exhorted  me  to  bear  it  with 
greater  fortitude  ;  for  that  it  was  her  determination  to  sub- 
mit to  the  will  of  God  in  all  that  he  might  see  good  to  lay 
upon  her.  May  he  succour  both  her,  and  you,  and  us  all 
against  our  adversary  the  devil,  and  apply  a  healing  balm 
to  the  poisonous  bites  of  the  old   serpent." 

He  often  speaks  beautifully,  and  with  evident  delight,  of 
the  affection  of  parents  to  their  children  ;  considering  it  as 
purposely  calculated  to  give  u&-an  idea  of  the  regard  which 
God — "  the  Father  of  spirits" — bears  to  us.  ^Thus  he 
writes  to  one  friend,  "  I  doubt  not  that  God  will  preserve 
the  remnant  of  his  church  in  these  countries  ;  and  in  that 
hope  you  may  indulge  more  heart-felt  joy  in  the  birth  of 
your  son.  I  rejoice  at  the  event  for  your  father's  sake — 
and  your  father-in-law's  sake — and  your  own  sake  ;  and 
that  you  may  all,- while  you  kiss  the  dear  infant  with  pa- 
rental tenderness,  think  of  the  love  (cropy^)  which  God  bears 
towards  us."  And  to  another  :  "  Withdraw  your  mind  as 
much  as  possible  from  painful  subjects  of  reflection,  and 
refresh  yourself  with  the  sweets  of  domestic  society  :  and, 
when  you  feel  such  affection  to  your  children  think  that 
God  has  impressed  this  upon  us  as  an  image  of  his  own 
mind  towards  us."* 

III.  That  piety  of  the  writer's  mind,  which  gives  so  reli- 
gious a  turn  to  all  these  subjects,  will  appear  still  more 
conspicuous  where  the  afflictions  and  death  of  his  friends 
are  concerned. 

The  death  of  the  excellent  Nicholas  Hausman,t  in  the 
year  1538,  seems  to  have  deeply  affected  both  Luther  and 
Melancthon.  "Dr.  Martin,"  says  Melancthon,  "passed 
the  whole  of  yesterday  in  tears.  I  know  not  what  sort  of 
a  night  has   followed   so  sad,a  day.     He  bewails    not  our 

*  The  last  fourteen  letters  in  the  second  book  of  Melanctlion's  pub- 
lished epistles  are  addressed  to  a  faithful  and  valued  servant,  whom  he 
constantly  calls  "  Charissime  .Toannes,"— "  very  dear  John."  They  bear 
a  strong  testimony  to  the  excellence  of  the  servant  and  the  kindness  of 
the  master.  On  the  death  of  John  "  Melancthon  invited  the  acade- 
micians to  his  funeral,  delivered  an  oration  over  his  grave,  and  composed 
an  epitaph"  in  Latm  verse  for  his  tomhstone,  in  which  he  speaks  of 
himself  as  having 

— "  in  a  servant  found  a  friend  sincere, 

And  more  than  friend,  a  man  of  faith  and  prayer." 
tVol,  i,151,ii.  51. 


292  melancthon's 

departed  friend,  but  the  church  which  has  lost  so  invaluable  a 
pastor. — But  let  us  remember,  Hausman  is  not  dead,  but  is 
removed  from  all  the  troubles  of  life  to  immortality.  And 
though  there  is  reason  to  grieve  for  the  church,  yet  Chris- 
tians must  not  sink  under  their  grief,  but  raise  and  confirm 
their  minds  by  means  of  prayer  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
— And  in  another  letter  on  the  same  event  he  says,  ♦'  Re- 
flecting on  the  decease  of  Hausman,  I  feel  as  on  the  dis- 
missal of  friends  home  from  a  foreign  land  to  our  common 
native  country.  Their  departure  awakens  all  my  own  love 
for  that  countr}'^,  and  I  desire  to  go  with  them  to  those  bet- 
ter habitations — to  rise  to  that  eternal  world  of  light  where 
we  may  enjoy  God,  at  a  distance  from  all  sin,  and  error, 
and  darkness.  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  refrain  your  grief, 
and  think  of  semng  the  church  committed  to  your  care. 
In  battle,  soldiers  must  not  let  their  courage  fail  because 
they  see  their  comrades  fall  around  them  :  but  rather  suc- 
ceed to  their  places.  So  let  us  not  desert  the  post  assigned 
us,  but  pray  that  God  will  vouchsafe  to  be  with  us." 

To  his  friend  Mathesius,  on  the  deformity  of  his  son. 
"Reverend  and  dear  brother,  often  in  praying  for  ray 
daughter,  under  great  distress,  I  thought  parental  affection 
had  been  implanted  in  our  breasts  to  remind  us  of  the  love 
of  God  towards  his  only-begotten  Son,  and  towards  us. 
But  this  affection  is  especially  called  forth  under  afflictive 
circumstances.  I  doubt  not  therefore  the  grief  which  you 
and  your  dear  wife  feel  for  the  deformity  of  your  child.  Yet 
Adam  and  Eve,  and  David  suffered  still  severer  wounds  : 
and  think  what  anguish  pierced  the  soul  of  the  blessed 
Virgin  ! — I  purpose  shortly  to  publish  your  discourse  :  and 
I  mean  to  weave  into  it  the  doctrine  of  consolation  under 
affliction,  and  of  the  distinction  between  philosophical  and 
evangelical  consolation." 

To  Pfeffinger,  on  the  death  of  his  son.  "It  is  the  will 
of  God  that  we  sho>ild  mourn  the  loss  of  those  who  have 
been  dear  to  us  ;  and  in  our  grief  he  approves  our  piety. 
In  proportion  also  to  the  excellence  of  a  man's  nature  is  the 
strength  of  his  affections.  T  can  conceive  therefore  the  depth 
of  your  grief  for  the  loss  of  your  son.  And  I  blame  not 
your  feelings,  but  rather  sympathize  with  tbem,  both  for 
your  sake  and  that  of  the  public.  Yet  consider  that  God 
has  commanded  us  both  to  grieve  and  to  moderate  our  grief. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  293 

Let  us  first  remember  that  these  events  are  all  ordered  by 
th«  Divine  counsel,  and  that  our  minds  must  be  bowed  into 
submission  to  God.  Theii  let  us  consider,  not  what  we 
have  lost,  but  to  what  blessedness  your  excellent  son  is 
called  away — from  what  a  miserable  world,  and  at  what  a 
time.  We  ought  to  congratulate  him  on  being  advanced  to 
the  heavenly  society,  where  he  drinks  no  more,  as  we  do, 
of  polluted  streams,  but  of  the  pure  and  inexhaustible  foun- 
tain of  wisdom ;  where  he  hears  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
prophets,  and  the  apostles  ;  and  gives  thanks  to  God  with 
ineffable  joy.  Thinking  on  such  a  state,  we  could  wish  at 
once  to  fly  to  it,  from  the  comparative  dungeon  in  which  we 
live. — Your  grief  is  increased,  perhaps,  by  reflecting  on  the 
genius,  the  attainments,  and  the  virtues  of  your  son.  But 
this  reflection  ought  rather  to  assuage  your  grief.  He  lived 
to  good  purpose  while  he  lived.  You  saw  the  evidences 
of  his  piety  shining  forth  in  his  life  and  in  his  death — such 
as  demonstrated  that  eternal  life  was  begun  in  him,  and 
that  his  removal  hence  has  been  to  heavenly  bliss.  As 
often  as  you  think  of  his  endowments,  give  thanks  to  God, 
who  showed  such  favour  both  to  you  and  to  him.  A  grate- 
ful mind  will  remember  its  mercies  as  well  as  its  trials.  .  .  . 
If  you  are  at  any  time  compelled  to  spend  some  months  at 
a  distance  from  your  family,  amid  rude  and  unfriendly  com- 
panions, the  thought  of  returning  home  alleviates  your  un- 
easiness. So  now  bear  your  bereavement  with  moderated 
feelings,  because  in  a  little  time  you  shall  go  and  join  your 
son  in  that  blessed  society,  and  see  him  adorned  with  higher 
honours  than  he  could  here  receive,  and  associated  with  the 
most  glorious  companions.  There  you  shall  live  with  him 
to  all  eternity,  enjoying  the  vision  of  God,  and  the  most 
blessed  intercourse  with  Christ  and  all  his  servants.  On 
this  state  let  us  fix  our  eyes  during  our  troublesome  sojourn 
here :  let  us  bear  up  the  more  cheerfully,  knowing  that  our 
course  is  short,  and  that  we  are  formed  for  spending  eternity 
with  God,  and  not  for  the  fleeting  gratifications  of  this  life. 
— May  God  support  you  in  body  and  mind — according  to 
that  sentence,  '  In  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being !'  » 

To  Camerarius,  on  the  death  of  his  brother,     "  I  sin- 
cerely loved  your  brother,  not  only  because  I  love  you,  but 
for  the  sake  of  his  genius,  his  goodness,  his  weight  of  char- 
Bb3 


294  melancthon's 

acter,  his  mocleration  of  mind,  and  because,  as  I  saw  him 
relying  on  God  in  his  troubles,  I  could  not  doubt  that  he 
was  himself  beloved  of  God.  I  grieve  therefore  that  he  is 
taken  from  us. — But  what  do  I  say,  I  loved  him  1  Nay,  I 
still  love  him  :  for  he  dwells  with  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  with 
Abraham,  and  Joseph,  and  David,  and  John  the  Baptist,  and 
St.  Paul ;  and  sees  them  face  to  face  who  are  the  judges 
of  the  conflicts  in  which  we  are  engaged.*  I  hope  I  shall 
join  that  blessed  company  a  short  time  before  you  do.  So 
far  am  I  from  shrinking  at  the  prospect  of  quitting  my  im- 
prisonment here,  that,  as  often  as  I  think  of  the  employments 
of  that  blessed  society,  the  desire  to  join  them  glows  within 
me.  ...  I  am  no  stranger  to  the  contemplation  of  death. 
But  God  would  have  us  not  dwell  on  our  miseries,  but  seek 
and  expect  consolation  from  him,  who  is  the  God  of  ail  com- 
fort, and  who  dwells  with  the  afflicted — as  I  have  often 
found,  in  such  a  manner  as  assures  me  that  we  are  not  left 
to  the  government  of  chance." 

To  Gerbelius,  on  the  death  of  his  son.  "  I  deeply  sym- 
pathize with  you,  and  should  gladly  comfort  you  :  but  all 
other  topics  than  those  which  the  divine  Word  furnishes  are 
frigid  and  empty.  Among  those  of  an  availing  kind,  one  is, 
that  God  has  repeatedly  taught  us  that  his  church  must 
bear  the  cross,  and  the  reasons  why  it  must  do  so.  He  has 
exercised  the  great  luminaries  of  his  church,  and  above  them 
all  their  great  Head,  his  beloved  Son,  with  severe  suflferings. 
As  therefore  we  know  the  will  of  God,  and  are  assured 
what  the  issue  shall  be,  we  must  do  as  St.  Peter  charges 
us,  '  humble  ourselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God' — that 
mighty  hand  which  not  only  subverts  prosperity,  but  also 
wonderfully  supports  and  delivers  his  people  in  adversity, 
beyond  their  expectation.  Let  us  obey  God  therefore,  and 
*  not  faint  when  we  are  rebuked  of  him.' — I  have  been  fre- 
quently called  to  mourn  the  death  of  beloved  friends  within 
the  last  two  years.  I  lately  lost  my  sister,  and  my  sister- 
in-law,  my  brother's  wife  :  also  Capito,  and  Grynaeus,  and 
his  son.  I  could  recount  a  longer  catalogue  than  I  could 
well  bear  to  review,  were  I  not  convinced  that  we  must 
submit  to  God  ;  and  likewise  that  my  departed  friends  are 
not  lost,  but  still  contemplate,  with  far  higher  advantage 

*  Heb.  xii.  1. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  296 

and  delight,  those  truths  which  we  imperfectly  discussed 
together  in  this  state  of  comparative  darkness.  Think  thus, 
my  friend,  that  you  shall  again  embrace  your  departed  wives 
and  children  ;  that  you  shall  conduct  your  son  through  the 
glorious  company  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  recall 
to  his  mind  what  you  taught  him  concerning  them,  and  hear 
the  doubtful  points  of  their  respective  histories  cleared  up 
by  themselves  in  person.  You  shall  hear  the  Son  of  God 
himself  speaking  to  you.  You  shall  see  your  sainted  wives 
conversing  with  Eve,  and  Sarah,  and  other  holy  women  of 
old  times.  As  often  as  I  indulge  these  reflections,  I  feel 
the  ardent  desire  of  mingling  with  the  blessed  company. 
You  remember  Socrates  says,  that  nothing  could  be  more 
delightful  to  him,  if  the  souls  of  men  really  live  hereafter, 
than  to  depart  out  of  this  life,  and  to  join  Palamedes  and 
other  sages,  and  to  learn  from  them  the  things  of  which  he 
was  here  left  in  doubt.  If  to  him  the  thought  of  death  was 
alleviated  by  that  obscure  and  uncertain  hope,  how  ought 
we  to  be  affected,  who  assuredly  know  that  we  are  formed 
for  the  presence  of  God  himself,  and  that  by  his  Son,  our 
great  High-priest,  our  forfeited  inheritance  is  restored  to  us  ] 
— I  have  not  written  to  instruct  you  ;  but  because  I  hoped 
the  converse  of  a  friend  might  at  such  a  time  be  soothing  to 
you. — Farewell." 

The  affliction  which  Melancthon  himself  suffered  on 
account  of  a  beloved  daughter  has  been  repeatedly  referred 
to  :  and  with  some  more  distinct  notice  of  her  history  we 
will  close  these  extracts  relative  to  cases  of  suffering  and 
sorrow. 

Melancthon  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Concern- 
ing the  sons  I  find  nothing  recorded,  and  they  probably  died 
in  early  life.  The  younger  daughter  was  married  to  Caspar 
Peucer,  a  man  of  great  eminence  as  a  physician,  a  scholar, 
and  a  philosopher.  He  was  also  a  zealous  labourer  and  a 
great  sufferer  in  the  same  cause  with  his  father-in-law  : 
being  much  persecuted  by  the  divines  of  Jena  and  Weimar, 
and  subjected  by  the  Elector  Augustus  to  a  very  severe 
imprisonment  of  ten  years'  continuance,  chiefly  on  the 
ground  of  his  having  renounced  Luther's  doctrine  of  the 
corporal  presence  in  the  Eucharist.  The  elder  daughter 
was   an   elegant    and    accomplished   young   woman,  who 


296  melancthon's 

reflected  the  image  of  her  father's  mind,  and  was  a  great 
favourite  with  him.  She  was  married  at  a  very  early  age 
to  George  Sabinus,  a  pupil  of  her  father's,  not  unworthy  of 
his  master,  as  far  as  intellectual  endowments  were  con- 
cerned, but  a  stranger  to  his  meekness  and  moderation  of 
mind.  Sabinus,  early  flattered  by  the  attentions  paid  him 
by  the  great  and  the  learned  both  in  Germany  and  Italy, 
cherished  ambitious  aims,  and  in  consequence  expected 
services  from  his  father-in-law  in  promoting  his  advance- 
ment, which  it  was  neither  in  Melancthon's  power,  nor 
agreeable  to  his  views,  to  render.  Disappointed  of  his 
hopes  in  this  respect,  he  removed,  in  the  year  1544,  much 
against  Melancthon's  wishes,  into  Prussia,  to  take  the 
superintendence  of  the  new  academical  institution  which 
Albert  of  Brandenburg  was  then  forming  at  Konigsberg. 
This  proved  a  final  removal  of  his  wife  from  her  father's 
presence.  She  seems  to  have  been  by  no  means  kindly 
treated  by  her  husband,  and  she  died  three  years  afterward 
at  her  new  place  of  residence,  leaving  behind  her  three 
daughters  and  an  infant  son.  These  occurrences  inflicted 
a  deep  wound  on  the  tender  heart  of  Melancthon.  He  how- 
ever not  only  took  on  himself  the  charge  of  his  grand- 
children's education,  but  behaved  with  great  kindness  to 
Sabinus.  The  latter  returned  from  Prussia  in  1553,  and 
settled  at  Frankfort  on  the  Oder  ;  and  he  is  spoken  of  as 
spending  his  remaining  days  usefully  and  piously,  and 
ending  them  in  a  manner  becoming  a  sincere  Christian. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  Melancthon's  letters 
relative  to  these  affairs  : — 

"  Sabinus  aims  to  get  to  court.  This  is  his  object. 
Perhaps  he  is  not  disinclined  to  remove  my  daughter  at  a 
greater  distance  from  me.  But  I  check  myself:  I  commend 
her  to  God.  I  reflect  how  the  mother  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  Mary  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  and  many  other  pious 
women  were  preserved  ;  and  that  at  a  time  when  Syria  was 
overrun  by  Parthian,  Roman,  and  Herodian  troops.  ...  I 
remember  once  when  she  was  ill,  in  her  infancy,  to  have 
found  my  mind  suddenly  and  eflectually  cheered  under  my 
anxieties  about  her,  by  the  simple  reflection.  She  is  the 
object  of  the  Divine  care  I  .  .  .  .  Though  I  grieve  to  have 
my  daughter  removed  so  far  from  me,  yet,  amid  so  many 
public  miseries,  I  must  bear  this  private  aflliction  with  sub- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  297 

mission.  The  thought  of  her  virtues  often  soothes  my  sad- 
ness. I  commend  her  to  God  !"  He  then  relates  a  little 
incident  of  her  early  years,  which  had  made  a  lasting  impres- 
sion on  his  memory  and  his  heart.  "  I  was  holding  her  in  my 
arms  in  the  morning,  when  she  had  only  her  night-gown  on. 
She  observed  tears  stealing  down  my  cheeks,  and  she  took 
up  her  skirt  and  wiped  them  away.  This  little  action  of 
hers  so  penetrated  my  soul  that  I  could  not  but  think  it 
significant." 

Again  :  "  So  the  mother,  with  her  two  little  girls,  follows 
her  husband,  full  of  sadness,  and  anticipating  miscarriage 
and  death  as  the  consequence.  May  God  avert  it !  I- pray 
the  Son  of  God,  who  hath  said,  '  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  T  will  give  you  rest,'  to 
guard  and  direct  her.  .  .  .  The  whole  proceeding  is  strange. 
— But  I  am  now  drawing  up  for  him  (Sabinus)  a  scheme  for 
the  regulation  of  the  university." 

On  receiving  the  sad  tidings  of  his  daughter's  death,  in 
1547,  he  wrote  the  following  letter  to  her  husband  : — "  I 
doubt  not  you  yourself  feel  that  the  force  of  paternal  affec- 
tion is  great.  You  will  readily  believe  me,  then,  when  I  say 
that  I  loved  my  daughter  Ann  most  dearly.  Having  there- 
fore formed  a  high  opinion  of  you  from  your  abilities  as  a 
writer,  as  did  also  many  other  competent  judges,  I  willingly 
gave  her  to  you,  praying  that  the  connexion  might  be  happy 
and  prosperous.  As  however  we  are  taught  by  the  heavenly 
doctrine  what  are  the  causes  and  the  remedies  of  human 
afflictions,  let  us  endeavour  wisely  to  receive  what  has  now 
befallen  us.  Though  I  am  in  the  deepest  distress  for  my 
daughter's  death,  and  because  it  took  place  when  she  was 
far  removed  from  her  pare;»t's  embraces,  and  when  I  had 
no  opportunity  of  conversing  with  her  on  the  most  import- 
ant topics,  yet  I  keep  before  my  mind  those  consolations 
which  God  has  graciously  provided  for  us.  Among  these 
the  chief  is,  that  my  dear  daughter  previously  exhibited 
sure  signs  of  love  to  God  :  on  which  ground  I  trust  that 
she  now  enjoys  his  blessed  presence,  and  that  of  his  Son 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  I  often  commended  her 
with  tears  :  and  in  that  presence  it  is  my  hope  ere  long  to 
embrace  her  again. — But  now  I  wish  that  our  friendship 
should  remain  unbroken  :  and  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to 
preserve  it.     Your  children  I  account  as  my  own.     They 


298  melancthon's 

are  mii^e  :  and  I  love  them  as  I  loved  their  mother 

She  was  devoted  to  her  children  :  and  I  wish  to  catch  her 
feelings  towards  them.  I  not  only  advise  you,  but  I  ear- 
nestly entreat  you,  to  send  the  little  girls  tome,  one  or  both 
of  them.  They  shall  he  faithfully  and  tenderly  trained  up 
in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  in  becoming  duties,  as  their 
sister  is.  Her  letters  to  you  will  be  a  proof  of  her  progress. 
Little  Albert,  I  take  for  granted,  is  committed  to  a  trusty 
nurse.  May  God  preserve  him !  .  .  .  .  The  dangers  of  the 
war  do  not  at  all  prevent  my  wishing  to  see  all  my  family 
gathered  round  me.  God  in  his. mercy  has  protected  us 
hitherto,  and  he  will,  I  trust,  yet  preserve  us  ;  and,  if  cir- 
cumstances require,  I  will  not  neglect  to  place  those  about 
me  in  a  situation  of  greater  security.  13ut  let  me  know 
what  you  resolve  to  do  respecting  your  daughters." 

This  letter  indicates  a  mind  llill  of  affection,  but,  I  think, 
in  some  degree, -adjusting  itself  to  the  less  ardent  sensibilities 
of  its  correspondent.  Some  sentences,  addressed  to  confi- 
dential friends,  depict  in  a  more  vivid  manner  the  depth  of 
the  writer's  grief  To  Eber  he  says,  "  I  send  you  the  ac- 
count of  my  daughter's  death,  the  reading  of  which  so  ag- 
gravates my  grief  that  I  fear,  its  effects  on  my  health.  I 
have  before  my  eyes  her  gesture,  when,  on  being  asked 
what  she  would  have  said  to  her  parents,  she  replied  only 
by  tears  ;  and  it  awakens  recollections  which  harrow  up 
my  feelings.  But  I  recur  to  the  consolations  which  God 
has  proposed  to  us. — Compassion  for  my  son-in-law  also 
now  effaces  from  my  mind  the  remembrance  of  past  of- 
fences." In  a  subsequent  letter  he  says  again,  "  That 
silence  of  my  daughter — those  tears  have  inflicted  an  incu- 
rable wound  on  my  heart."  Yet,  he  adds,  "  my  grief  for 
our  public  calamities*  even  surpasses  that  which  I  feel  for 
ray  domestic  affliction."  To  Cruciger  he  writes  :  "  I  loved 
ray  daughter  with  that  affection  which  God-  has  implanted 
in  our  nature,  and  that,  quickened  by  the  thought  of  the 
sad  situation  to  which  she  was  reduced— especially  as  it 
threw  her  virtues  into  shade.  Her  premature  death  being 
now  added  to  the  calamity,  my  grief  is  deep.  I  blame  my 
own  negligence  for  having  thrown  her  into  such  circum- 

*  Probably  this  was  written  just  at  the  period  of  the  battle  of  Mulh- 
berg.    His  daughter  died  Feb.  26,  15i7. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  299 

stances.  Yet,  since  for  ten  years  together*  I  daily  com- 
mended her  to  God  with  many  tears,  and  the.  care  of  God 
for  her  was  strikingly  discovered  to  me,  I  judge  that  he  has 
removed  her  out  of  life  in  order  to  relieve  her  from  her 
troubles  :  and  this  thought  in  some  degree  reconciles  my 
mind.  I  give  thanks  therefore  to  God,  the  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  hath  heard  my  prayers,  and 
called  her  to  a  better  state." 

IV.  We  may,  lastly,  here  collect  together  a  few  brief  mis- 
cellaneous notices. 

Of  the  indefatigable  ii%enc(?  of  this  spare,  feeble,  delicate 
man, — for  between  forty  and  fifty  successive  years  in  inces- 
sant lecturing,  in  writing  upon  almost  every  branch  of  sci- 
ence and  literature,  and  indeed  upon  all  sorts  of  subjects, 
human  and  divine  ;  in  corresponding  with  persons  of  all 
ranks,  and  in  various  countries  ;  in  maintaining  the  most 
harassing  conferences  and  disputations,  and  in  journeying 
to  settle  churches  and  regulate  universities, — it  must  be 
superfluous  to  speak,  t  We  will  only  add  a  sentence  or  two 
from  his  letters,  expressive  of  his  determination  to  persevere 
under  all  circumstances. 

To  Prince  George  of  Anhalt  he  writes  :  "  As  it  is  said  in 
the  Psalm,  '  I  will  sing  praise  to  my  God  as  long  as  I  have 
my  being,'  so  let  us,  while  time  is  allowed  us,  faithfully 
spread  the  gospel,  whether  states  and  empires  be  at  peace 
or  under  disturbance."  Again:  "  I  will  serve  the'  church 
by  teaching  necessary  truths  with  modesty  and  moderation, 
so  long  as  God  shall  give  me  leave.  The  conflicts  of  em- 
pires fmd  of  factions  are  nothing  to  men  of  our  class."  Yet 
again  :  "  I  form  no  schemes,  I  have  no  private  objects  to 
aim  at,  I  fortify  myself  with  no  factious  adherents  (though, 
if  I  chose  this,  the  means  would  not  be  wanting);  but,  in 
my  proper  place,  I  teach  good  learning,  serviceable  to  the 
public  ;  and  now  also,  in  my  old  age,  prepare  for  death, 
which  cannot  be  far  off:  ,and  I  pray  the  Son  of  God  to  make 
me  '  a  vessel  of  mercy  !'  Let  others  seek  for  power  and  pre- 
eminence ;  J  have  nothing  to  do  with  such  things.  The 
Son  of  God  will  judge  of  my  course  and  of  my  mlentions. 

*  From  tlie  period  of  her  marriaoje,  in  1535. 

t  It  may  be  observed  that  among  the  labours  of  Melancthon  T  have  not 
enumerated  preaching  or  pastoral  duties.  The  fact  is,  1  discover  no 
proof  of  his  ever  having  taken  orders  as  a  clergyman. 


300  melancthon's 

He  knows  my  desire  to  be  that  truth  may  be  brought  to 
light,  the  glory  of  God  set  forth,  and  his  church  appear  in 
her  beauty.  With  this  consciousness  I  live,  and  commit 
myself  to  God.  I  know  that  I  am  a  man  and  a  miserable 
sinner  ;  but  I  hope  that  many  wise  and  good  men  can  bear 
testimony  to  my  aims  and  my  labours  in  the  cause  to  which 
I  have  devoted  myself." — To  Spalatinus  :  "  This  is  the 
object  I  propose  to  myself — the  scope  and  end  of  my  phi- 
losophy. You  remember  the  wise  saying  of  the  Elector 
Frederic — -.What  we  can  !  Let  us  adopt  it.  Let  us  serve 
the  public  as  far  as  we  can,  and  expect  our  protection,  our 
favour,  and  our  reward  from  God.  Human  rewards  are 
nothing." 

His  zeal  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  and  in  recommend- 
ing promising  young  men  to  patronage  and  to  useful  situa- 
tions, are  prominent  points  in  all  his  correspondence.  "  As 
long  as  I  live,"  he  says,  "I  will  labour  to  bring  forward 
what  may  be  serviceable  to  youth."  And  again  :  "  I  am 
delighted  with  the  verse  of  Epicharmus  ;  for  I  think  it  a 
greater  honour  to  be  useful  to  children  than  '  to  capture 
Troy.'"  And  hence  he  deliberately  preferred  publishing  a 
series  of  treatises,  in  which,  among  other  things,  almost  all 
the  sciences  were  first  reduced  to  order,  from  the  miserable 
confusion  in  which  they  had  been  involved,  to  perfecting  a 
small  number  of  works  which  might  have  more  exalted  his 
own  literary  reputation. 

His  hMtnility  often  shines  forth  very  pleasingly,  and  with- 
out ostentation.  "  My  errors,"  he  says,  "  and  the  errors 
of  many  other  persons  concerned,  have  been  numerous  :  nor 
could  things  of  sucli  impoiiance  be  recovered  from  the  dark 
chaos  in  which  they  were  sunk,  without  many  mistakes 
being  committed." — ^"  I  wish  neither  to  rely  on  my  own 
counsels,  nor  to  introduce  novelties,  nor  to  contend  for 
things  not  necessary." — •"  Let  others  boast  themselves  self- 
taught  :  I  freely  confess  that  I  am  daily  indebted  to  many 
persons  for  instruction  in  numerous  particulars.  To  be 
single-handed  is  to  be  ivcak.^^ 

His  liberality  and  disinterestedness  must  not  be  passed 
over.  Camerarius  writes  of  Melancthon's  wife,  "  She  was 
a  most  assiduous  mistress  of  a  family,  liberal  and  beneficent 
to  all,  and  so  attentive  to  the  poor,  that,  both  in  giving  to  all 
without  distinction,  and  in  making  applications  to  others  on 


CORRESPONDENCE.  301 

their  behalf,  she  seemed  sometimes  to  exceed  due  bounds." 
Moderate  as  were  his  means,  Melancthon's  house  appears 
to  have  been  open  to  all  comers  who  took  any  interest  in 
the  cause  of  religion  or  learning;  and  he  did  not  scruple  to 
do  much  to  support,  as  well  as  gratuitously  to  instruct,  poor 
students  of  promising  talents  and  character.  At  the  time 
when  he  was  a  wanderer  from  home  on  account  of  the  war, 
he  thus  writes  to  a  fellow-sufferer  :  "  With  respect  to  pe- 
cuniary matters,  God  will  provide.  What  I  have  left,  you 
shall  share  with  me."  And  again  :  "  Though  the  war  is 
ruinous  to  my  finances,  yet,  if  you  have  need  to  take  any 
thing  of  your  friends,  take  it  of  ?ne.  As  long  as  any  part  of 
my  property  remains,  we  will  hold  it  in  common."  We  may 
perhaps  think  this  excessive  ;  but  certainly  it  is  noble. 
Surely  also  it  is  Christian  ;  and  when  such  conduct  is 
adopted  upon  genuine  principles  of  faith  in  God  and  love 
to  man,  no  one  will  suffer  by  it."  We  hear  of  no  material 
inconvenience  which  accrued  to  e?ther  Melancthon  or  his 
family  by  this  disposition  to  share  his  property  with  the  poor 
and  with  his  friends.  Yet,  with  respect  to  his  stipend  from 
the  university,  which  was,  I  apprehend,  his  main  support,  it 
would  appear  from  a  conversation  related  to  have  passed  be- 
tween Sabinus,  afterward  his  son-in-law,  and  Cardinal Bembo 
in  Italy,  that  it  did  not  exceed  three  hundred  florins,  or  about 
seventy  pounds  a  year  ;  and  we  have  before  seen  that  he 
hesitated  to  receive  an  addition  to  it.  Maurice  also,  when 
advanced  to  the  electorate,  could  not,  even  on  trial,  induce 
him  to  ask,  and  scarcely  to  accept,  any  thing  from  him.  We 
had  occasion  to  observe  a  like  spirit  in  Luther  :  and  I  may 
add,  that  in  perusing  their  memoirs,  it  has  struck  me  as  a 
quality  common  to  most  of  the  eminent  men  who  were  made 
the  instruments  of  so  great  a  work  at  the  period  of  the 
reformation.  Yes,  and  those  who  would  aspire  to  be  em- 
ployed with  success  on  such  high  and  holy  services  must 
become  detached  more  than  even  good  men  generally  now 
are  from  the  interests  of  this  life.  Alas,  we  are  too  calcu- 
lating— too  commercial — too  much  given  to  contrive  the 
means  of  acquiring  a  good  provision,  and  of  maintaining  a 
handsome  style  of  living.  This  was  never  the  spirit  which 
wrought  great  things  in  the  church  of  God.  Let  us  beware 
lest  we  fall  under  the  sentence,  though  perhaps  in  a  some- 
VoL.  IL— C  c 


302  melancthon's  works. 

what  varied  sense,  "  Ye  have  your  reward" — in  improved 
circumstances,  but  in  blighted  labours  ! 

The  devout  spirit  of  Alelancthon  has  sufficiently  appeared  ; 
but  we  may  add  the  two  following  short  specimens  of  the 
sort  of  sentiments  which  abound  in  his  correspondence. 
*'  Amid  these  disorders  may  the  Son  of  God  protect  us ! 
When  he  formed  such  an  aUiance  with  the  human  race  as 
to  take  our  nature  upon  him,  he  gave  an  irrefragable  proof 
of  his  real  regard  for  us.  Oh  amazing,  that  the  divine 
nature  should  so  abase  itself!  Oh  more  than  iron-hard- 
ness of  the  human  heart,  to  be  so  little  affected  with  such  a 
fact !" — "  In  all  ages  the  church  has  been  subject  to  exile ; 
to  remind  us,  I  think,  that  we  have  lost  our  proper  native 
country,  and  that  we  are  to  be  led  back  to  it  by  the  Son  of 
God,  for  this  purpose  living  in  exile  among  us.  But  as  God 
bears  a  regard  to  us  in  our  banishment,  so  would  he  have 
all  pious  persons  relieve  the  sorrows  of  their  fellow-exiles." 

Among  the  works  of  Melancthon,  it  may  not  be  superflu- 
ous here  to  take  some  notice  of  his  "  Commonplaces," 
or  brief  discussions  of  the  principal  topics  of  theology  ; 
which  have  excited  extraordinary  attention,  and  furnish  a 
verj'  interesting  article  of  literary  and  theological  history. 

From  its  very  first  publication,  in  the  year  1521  (when  its 
author  was  only  twenty-four  years  of  age),  this  work  ob- 
tained a  high  degree  of  celebrity.  Luther  spoke  of  it  as 
"•  invincible,  worthy  not  only  of  immortality,  but  of  being 
sanctioned  by  a  canon  of  the  church  :"  pronounced  it  far 
superior  to  any  writings  of  his  own — "the  best  book  in  the 
world,  next  to  the  Bible  ;"  and  one  which,  thoroughly 
digested,  was  sufficient,  with  the  holy  Scriptures,  to  make  an 
accomplished  divine.  In  his  controversy  with  Erasmus,  he 
told  that  learned  writer  that  it  had,  by  anticipation,  "ground 
"all  the  arguments  of  his  Diatribe  to  powder  :"  and  he  con- 
tinued to  speak  of  it  in  the  same  strain  to  the  end  of  his 
days.  Erasmus  also  highly  commended  it ;  while  Coch- 
laeus,  the  virulent  opponent  of  Luther,  denounced  it  as  "  a 
most  pestilent  monster,  big  with  ruin  to  the  church."  To 
an  edition  pulilished  in  French,  at  Geneva,  in  the  year  1551, 
Calvin  prefixed  an  advertisement,  in  which  he  "  eulogizes 
the  author  in  the  strongest  terms,"  and  says  of  the  Com- 
monplaces in  particular,  "  The  work  is  a  summary  of  those 


melancthon's  works.  303 

truths  which  are  essential  to  a  Christian's  guidance  in  the 
way  of  salvation."  In  numerous  theological  schools  no 
other  text-book  was  used  for  the  lectures  delivered  to  the 
students  ;  and  in  Misnia  and  Pomerania  it  was  clothed  with 
the  authority  of  a  symbolical  book.  It  spread  even  into 
Italy,  and  was  well  received  at  Rome  itself,  till  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  name  of  the  author  to  whom  it  was  ascribed, 
"  Messer  Ippofilo  da  Terra  Negra,"  was  no  other  than  a 
translation  of  the  words  "  Philip  Melancthon  ;"*  on  which 
the  copies  were  ordered  to  be  burned.  No  less  than  ninety- 
nine  editions  have  been  enumerated  (sixty-seven  in  the 
original  Latin,  and  thirty-two  in  different  modern  languages), 
which  were  printed  at  various  places  within  seventy-four 
years  from  its  first  appearance  ;  sixteen  or  seventeen  of 
them  being  between  the  years  1521  and  1525  :  and  we  may 
be  sure  that  where  the  demand  was  so  great,  the  impressions 
would  not  be  small. 

But  other  circumstances  besides  those  already  mentioned 
render  the  history  of  this  work  curious  and  interesting.  Not 
only  were  various  new  topics  introduced  in  the  course  of  its 
progress,  and  the  volume,  at  first  no  more  than  a  small  duo- 
decimo of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pages,  swelled  to  nearly  four 
times  its  original  size  ;  but  on  certain  important  points 
changes  were  made  which  attracted  great  attention  at  the 
time,  have  been  made  the  subject  of  much  investigation 
since,  and  furnish  a  very  striking  instance  how  much  increas- 
ing experience,  study,  and  prayer  teach  a  wise  and  good  man 
modestv,  and  may  very  probably  moderate  his  sentiments 
upon  high  points  on  which  he  might  at  first  be  disposed  to 
dogmatize.  So  much  curiosity  has  this  subject  excited 
among  the  learned,  that,  after  more  than  one  volume  had 
been  produced  upon  it,  Brucker,  the  learned  author  of  the 
History  of  Philosophy,  expressed  his  wish  that  some  com- 
petent writer  would  give  a  complete  history  of  the  work — a 
wish  which  we  are  told  has  been  fully  satisfied  in  a  Gemian 
treatise  by  Strobelius,  pastor  of  V\'oehrden,+  author  of  Me- 
lancthoniana,  and  other  esteemed  works,  and  editor  of  Ca- 
merarius's  Life  of  Melancthon. 

It  appears  that  after  Melancthon's  work  had  been  about 

*  Melancthim  is  Greek  for  his  proper  name  Schwartzerd,  which  means 
black  earth. 
t  NurembeFg,  1776,  1782. 


304  melancthon's  works. 

four  years  before  the  public,  its  author,  in  1525,  as  far  as  his 
influence  extended,  restrained  its  publication  ;  and  it  was 
no  more  reprinted,  at  least  in  the  original  Latin,  till  1535, 
when  he  brought  it  out  afresh,  doubled  in  size,  and  con- 
siderably changed.  Edition  again  rapidly  succeeded  edition 
of  the  book  in  this  form,  till  the  year  1543,  when  it  appeared 
a  second  time  remodelled,  and  again  nearly  doubled  in  size. 
VVe  have,  therefore,  in  fact,  three  distinct  series  of  edi- 
tions,— those  from  1521  to  1525,  those  from  1535  to  1542 
inclusive,  and  those  subsequent  to  the  last  of  these  dates. 
On  account  of  the  extreme  rarity  of  the  early  editions  (which 
made  Hutter,  a  learned  author,  who  died  so  far  back  as  the 
year  1616,  complain  that  they  were  inaccessible  to  him),  and 
from  their  being  much  sought  after,  as  exhibiting  the  ear- 
liest complete  monument  of  the  original  doctrine  of  the 
reformers,  Herman  Von  der  Hadt  was  induced  to  reprint 
the  first  edition  verbatim  in  his  Literary  History,  Frankfort, 
1717;  and  from  that  copy  it  has  been  again  reprinted  by 
Professor  Augusti,  at  Leipzig,  1821.  The  most  material 
variations  are  between  the  first  and  second  series  of 
editions  ;  those  between  the  second  and  third  being 
made  rather  by  addition  than  by  alteration.  The  changes 
which  Melancthon  made  by  no  means  gave  satisfaction  to 
all  his  friends,  and  particularly  to  many  of  the  divines  who 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  Protestant  church  after  the  death 
of  Luther.  These  latter  in  consequence  asserted  that  that 
reformer's  commendations  of  the  work  referred  only  to  the 
earlier  editions,  and  that  he  disapproved  the  alterations  made 
in  it,  though,  for  the  sake  of  not  disturbing  the  peace  of  the 
church,  he  did  not  publicly  censure  them.  This,  however, 
according  to  Augusti,  has  been  amply  disproved;  and,  in- 
deed, its  incorrectness  might  be  pretty  decisively  inferred 
from  what  has  appeared  in  this  history.  It  was  in  1543, 
eight  years  after  the  principal  changes  had  taken  place,  and 
when  the  editions  of  twenty  years'  previous  date  were  no 
doubt  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence,  that  Luther  com- 
mended the  work,  without  any  qualification,  to  his  Italian 
correspondents;*  and  it  was  in  1545,  two  years  after  the 
last  important  alterations  had  been  made,  that  he  eulogized 
it  in  the  same  unqualified  manner  in  the  preface  to  the  first 
volome  of  his  own  collected  works,  t 

*  Soe  p.  122.  t  See  p.  212. 


Welancthon's  works,  805 

It  will  not  be  to  our  purpose  in  this  place  to  enter  into 
the  particulars  of  the  changes  made  by  Melancthon  in  his 
work  as  time  advanced.*  Suffice  it  to  observe,  that  in  the 
early  editions  he  taught  the  highest  predestinarian  and  ne- 
cessitarian doctrines,  denying  not  only  free  will,  as  we  all 
deny  it,t  in  the  theological  sense  of  the  term,  hut  free  agency 
itself,  and  that  upon  principles  which  withhold  it  from  all 
creatures,  simply  as  such,  and  not  merely  from  fallen  beings. 
But  in  the  later  editions  all  this  is  withdrawn  or  revoked  ; 
and  on  some  points  the  author  has  rather  deviated  into  an  op- 
posite extreme.  On  the  whole,  however,  these  subjects  are 
treated  with  great  wisdom  and  moderation  ;  and  it  is  clear 
that  however  he  may  have  receded  from  the  high  speculative 
ground  which  he  formerly  occupied,  he  has  not  weakened 
his  statements  of  a  practical  doctrine  like  that  of  human  de- 
pravity, or  of  the  necessity  of  divine  grace  to  our  recovery. 
Dr.  Milner's  positions  will  here  fully  hold  good — that  Me- 
lancthon never  materially  altered  his  sentiments  "  on  the 
bondage  of  the  will,  or,  what  is  the  very  same  thing,  on  the 
propensity  of  human  nature  to  evil ;"  and  again,  that  "  in 
the  grand  Christian  article  of  original  sin,  and  the  total 
inability  of  man,  and  the  necessity  of  the  renovating  grace 
of  Christ,  Melancthon  was  as  sound  and  as  steady  as  Luther 
himself;  though  perhaps  he  did  not  on  all  occasions  grasp 
his  objects  with  the  force  and  the  distinctness  of  his  master." 

One  of  the  latest  of  Melancthon's  compositions  may  also 
be  adverted  to,  especially  as  he  styled  it  "  his  last  will,"  and 
desired  to  have  it  considered  as  his  closing  "confession  of 
faith. "t  I  refer  to  his  "Answers  to  the  impious  Articles  of 
the  Bavarian  Inquisition,"  or  Inquisitors,  written  in  August, 
1559.  The  articles  referred  to  were  thirty-one  in  number, 
all  drawn  up  in  the  form  of  questions  ;  which,  from  their 
nature,  would  appear  to  have  been  designed  to  detect,  by 
tests  both  affirmative  and  negative,  the  most  latent  infec- 
tion of  Lutheran  principles  :  and  they  are  signed  by  five 
"  examiners."     On  Melancthon's  replies  to  them  we  may 


*  This  is  done,  and  much  matter  introduced  which  I  hope  may  be 
valuable  to  the  theological  student,  ia  Continuation  of  Milner,  ii.  p. 
162-253. 

t  Church  Art  x.  t  See  p.  282. 

Cc2 


306  LUTHERAN  REFORMERS* 

remark,  1.  That  he  nowhere  shows  a  more  determined  ho«' 
tility  to  popish  errors,  or  a  deeper  sense  of  their  enormity, 
than  in  this  bis  last  publication  ;  2.  That  he  teaches  precisely 
the  same  doctrine  concerning  the  will  as  in  the  later  edi- 
tions of  his  Commonplaces ;  and,  3.  That  he  is  as  clea? 
and  determinate  as  ever  on  the  great  subject  of  justification, 
and  on  its  being  b}'  faith  alone,  "  that  is,  by  reliance  on  the 
Mediator."  "They,"  he  says,  "  who  reject  the  exclusive 
word  OJily  elide  into  the  synecdoche  of  Origen  or  the  pa- 
pists."* He  earnestly  recommends  "  that  modesty  of  mind 
which  would  humbly  adhere  to  revealed  truths,  though  it 
could  not  answer  all  the  cavils  raised  against  them." 

To  this  account  of  Melancthon  we  subjoin,  in  conclusion* 
a  brief  notice  of  several  of  the  more  eminent  promoters  of 
the  reformation  in  Germany  who  closed  their  earthly  career 
about  the  period  that  has  passed  under  review,  particularly 
from  the  death  of  Luther.  Luther's  earl)'  and  faithful 
friend  Spalatinus,  chaplain  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  died 
in  January,  1545,  a  year  before  the  reformer,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three.  He  was  subject  to  depression  of  spirits,  and 
dejection  in  his  work ;  but  by  the  wise  and  friendly  admo- 
nitions of  Luther,  he  was  kept  in  his  post,  and  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  to  the  end  of  his  life.  Luther  told 
him,  "  The  desire  you  have  to  quit  your  post  is  a  mere 
temptation.  I  consider  it  as  a  certain  sign  of  your  ministry 
being  acceptable  to  God  that  you  are  thus  tempted.  If  it 
were  otherwise,  you  would  not  deplore  your  own  unfruitful- 
ness  ;  you  would  rather  bustle  and  seek  to  please  men,  as 
those  do  who  talk  much,  though  they  were  never  sent  with 
a  commission  to  preach  the  gospel." 

The  death  of  Frederic  Myconius,  for  twenty-two  years 
pastor  and  superintendent  of  Saxe-Gotha,  took  place  about  six 
weeks  after  that  of  Luther.     He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 

John  Hesse,  the  excellent  Pastor  of  Breslaw,  died  the 
next  year,  1547,  aged  sixty,  and  was  succeeded  by  Aurifaber. 
His  colleague  Ambrose  Moiban  survived  him  seven  years. 

Of  Caspar  Cruciger  we  may  give  a  somewhat  more  de- 
tailed account.  He  was  a  native  of  Leipzig,  and  studied  at 
Wittemberg.  He  afterward  presided  for  some  years  over 
the  school  at  Magdeburg.     In  1527  he  was  called  to  Wit- 

*SeejJ,  275 


LUTHERAN  REFORMERS.  307 

temberg,  to  fill  the  offices  of  a   preacher  in  one  of  the 
churches,  and  a  lecturer  in  the  university  ;   and  he   con» 
tinued  there  the  remainder  of  his  life — being  rector  of  the 
University  from  the  year  1546  to  1548.     Possessing  great 
skill  in  the  Hebrew  language,  he   assisted   Luther  in  his 
translation  of  tlie  Scriptures.     He  was  held  in  great  esteem 
by  that   reformer:  and,   after  Luther's  death,  Melancthon 
had  scarcely  a  more  valued  adviser  and  coadjutor.     Joachim 
Camerarius,  who  had  been  his  fellow-student  under  George 
Heltus,   preceptor  to  George  Prince  of  Anhalt,  speaks  in 
terms  of  the  highest  admiration  of  his  erudition,  prudence, 
piety,  and  amiable  manners.     His  learning  was  almost  uni- 
versal ;  and   he  was  particularly  distinguished   for  the  ra- 
pidity of  his  penmanship.     When  he  acted  as  secretary  at 
the  conference  of  Worms,  in  the  year  1540,  Granvelle,  the 
emperor's  minister,  remarked  of  him,  "  The  Lutherans  have 
a  scribe  who  possesses  more  learning  than  all  the  men  of 
the  opposite  party."     He  greatly  delighted  in  the  study  of 
nature,  and  in  tracing  God  in  his  works.     He  died  in  1548, 
at  the  age  of  only  forty-five  years — worn  down  with  studies, 
labours,  and  anxious  cares  for  the  church.     "  He  departed 
out  of  life,"  says  Camerarius,  "offering  ardent  prayers  for 
himself,  and  for   all  who  in  common  with  him  were  in  jeo- 
pardy for  religion's  sake,   and  committing  his   soul  to  the 
hands  of  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  had  devoutedly  worshipped, 
and  in  all  his  studies  faithfully  served."     Melchior  Adam  is 
somewhat  more  particular.     "  He  lay,"  says  this  collector, 
**  three  months  without  hope  of  recovery,  displaying  unfail- 
ing faith,  patience,  and  piety.     Not  even  then  did  he  inter- 
mit his  studies,  but  fill,-d  up  his   time  with  useful  employ- 
ments, to  the  utmost  that  his  strength  would  bear.     In  the 
morning  he  had  his  little  daughters  called  to  him,  and  heard 
them  repeat  their  prayers,  intermingling  with  them  his  own 
sighs,  tears,  and  supplications  for  the  church  of  Christ,  for 
himself,  and  for  his  children.     '  O  Lord,'  he  prayed,  '  par- 
don my  sins,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son,  who  was 
crucified  for  us,  and  raised   from  the  dead  :  sanctify  me  by 
thy  Holy  Spirit :  preserve  in  these  countries  the  remnant  of 
thy  church,  and   sutler  not  the  light  of  thy  gospel  to  be  ex- 
tinguished.    Make  these  my  orphans  vessels  of  mercy  !     I 
call  upon  thee  in  faith,  though  it  be  weak  and  languid.     O 
Lord  Jesu  Christ,  Son  of  God,  I  believe  thy  promise,  which 


808  LUTHERAN    REFORMERS. 

thou  hast  sealed  with  thy  death  and  resurrection.  Assist 
me  :  raise  and  cheer  my  heart  with  faith  !'  He  frequently 
on  these  occasions  repeated  words  to  this  effect ;  and  after- 
ward, having  pressed  upon  his  children  some  pious  instruc- 
tions, he  dismissed  them.  He  then  appUed  himself  to  vari- 
ous studies,  mathematical  and  philological,  as  well  as  theo- 
logical. He  discoursed  also  largely  with  his  friends  on 
various  interesting  topics.  At  length,  with  a  peaceful  mind, 
and  in  the  midst  of  his  prayers,  he  slept  in  the  Lord,  No- 
vember 16,  1548,  and  was  honourably  buried  in  the  church 
at  Wittemberg." 

The  next  year  died  Vitus  Theodorus,  or  Theodore  Veit, 
one  of  Luther's  companions  at  Coburg,*  at  the  period  of  the 
diet  of  Augsburg.  He  was  a  native  of  Nuremberg,  and  exer- 
cised his  ministry  in  that  city  with  great  acceptance,  for  many 
years  previous  to  his  death.  He  was  there  much  annoyed 
by  the  public  insults  of  Osiander :  but,  by  Melancthon's 
advice,  he  was  "  as  a  deaf  man,  that  heard  them  not ;"  and 
thus  they  failed  of  their  effect. 

John  Spangenburg,t  the  pious  superintendent  of  Mans- 
feldt,  died  in  the  year  1550,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 

Bucer  and  Paul  Fagius  had  removed  from  Strasburg  into 
England,  on  the  invitation  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  dangers  incurred  by  their  opposition  to  the 
Interim  ;  and  they  died  there,  the  latter  in  November,  1550, 
the  former  in  February,  1551.  Bucer  was  in  his  sixty-first 
year  ;  Fagius  only  in  his  forty-fifth. 

The  death  of  Bucer  was  the  next  year  followed  by  that 
of  Caspar  Hedio,  who  had  long  been  his  fellow-labourer  at 
Strasburg,  and  of  Herman  Tast,  the  reformer  of  Holstein. 

The  year  1553  removed  Prince  George  of  Anhalt,  John 
j^pinus,  pastor  and  superintendent  of  Hamburgh,  and 
James  Sturmius  of  Strasburg.  Of  the  first  a  particular 
account  has  been  given  :  the  last,  as  a  layman,  taking  a 
part  in  public  affairs,  rendered  great  service  to  the  cause  of 
the  reformation.  He  filled  the  office  of  senator,  and  repeat- 
edly that  of  mayor,  in  his  native  city,  and  was  deputed,  it 
is  said,  as  its  representative  in  diets  of  the  empire,  and  on 
other  embassies,  not  less  than  ninety  times  ;  on  all  which 
occasions   he   displayed   such  firmness,   wisdom,   and  elo- 

*Seep.  33.  t  See  p.  206. 


LUTHERAN    REFORMERS.  309 

quence,  that  he  gained  the  highest  reputation  and  influence. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  first  acquired  the  name  of  Prot' 
estants^  at  Spires  in  1529  :  he  acted  a  prominent  part  in  the 
diet  of  Augsburg  in  the  year  following:  and  in  1532  he 
came  as  ambassador  into  England,  on  important  business. 
It  was  by  his  influence  that  the  public  school  at  Strasburg 
was  founded,  over  which  his  brother  John  Sturmius  pre- 
sided ;  and  that  stipends  were  appointed  to  encourage  men 
of  learning  to  settle  in  the  city.  He  was  deputed  again  to 
the  emperor,  on  embassies  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and 
the  Protestant  religion,  at  Ratisbon  in  1541,  Spires  1544, 
and  Worms  1545  :  and  it  was  chiefly  under  his  guidance  that 
his  fellow-citizens  made  the  firm  and  honourable  stand  which 
has  been  related,  when  the  Interim  was  established,  in  1548. 
To  him  also  we  may  be  said  to  owe  the  valuable  history  of 
Sleidan,  as  he  prompted  the  author  to  undertake  that  work, 
and  gave  him  access  to  many  of  the  original  documents 
necessary  to  its  execution.  He  was  held  in  high  estimation 
by  Melancthon,  who  consulted  with  him  on  all  affairs  of 
importance.  He  died  October  30,  1553,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four  years. 

The  next  person  whose  death  is  to  be  noticed  is  Justus 
Jonas,  who  had  been  the  fellow-labourer  of  Luther  from  an 
early  period.  We  have  seen  that  he  removed  from  Wit- 
temberg  to  Halle  in  Saxony  in  1541,  and  thence,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Smalkaldic  war  (after  which  he  attached  him- 
self to  the  sons  of  John  Frederic),  into  the  duchy  of  Co- 
burg  ;  where  he  was  made  rector  of  Eisfeldt,  and  superin- 
tendent of  the  churches  of  the  duchy.  He  died  there  in 
1555,  aged  sixty-three  years.  On  his  death-bed  this  ex- 
cellent man  is  said  to  have  suffered  great  mental  depression, 
but  to  have  been  roused  from  it  by  the  consolations,  not  un- 
mingled  with  reproofs,  suggested  by  his  own  servant. 

Martin  Frecht,  one  of  those  ministers  whom  the  emperor 
had  led  away  in  chains  from  Ulm,  for  his  opposition  to  the 
Interim,  and  John  Forster  of  Wittemberg,  a  skilful  Hebraist, 
who  had  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  Luther  in  his  expo- 
sitions of  Scripture,  died  in  1556.  The  former,  on  recovering 
his  liberty,  had  settled  at  Tubingen,  under  the  Duke  of 
Wiirtemberg. 

The  distinguished  Chancellor  of  Saxony,  Gregory  Pen- 


310  LUTHERAN    REFORMERS. 

tanus,  died  at  Jena,  in  1557,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  having 
settled  there  under  the  sons  of  the  late  elector. 

Bugenhagen,  Justus  Menius,  and  Erhard  Schnepfius 
were  all  removed  the  year  following.  The  first  of  these  ex- 
cellent men  was  for  thirty-six  years  pastor  at  Wittemberg : 
and  how  useful  his  labours  were  in  various  other  places,  to 
vvhich  he  was  deputed  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  reform- 
ation, has  abundantly  appeared  in  the  course  of  our  history. 
The  impression  made  on  his  mind  by  Luther's  Tract  on  the 
Babylonish  Captivity  of  the  Church,  in  the  year  1521,  was 
remarkable.  When  he  had  read  a  few  pages  of  it,  he  said, 
"  The  author  of  this  book  is  the  most  pestilent  heretic  that 
ever  infested  the  church  of  Christ."  After  a  few  days'  close 
attention  to  the  work,  he  recanted  his  opinion,  and  declared, 
*'  The  whole  world  is  blind,  and  this  man  alone  sees  the 
truth."  He  seems  never  to  have  quitted  Wittemberg  on 
account  of  the  war,  not  even  at  the  time  of  the  siege  ; 
though  he  was  deeply  affected  with  the  events  which  took 
place,  particularly  the  captivity  of  the  good  elector.  He 
supported  his  mind  by  constant  devotion,  and  assured  him- 
self "  that  the  ark  of  the  church  would  be  safe  amid  all 
storms."  He  mourned  over  the  changes  and  the  controver- 
sies which  followed  :  but  he  himself  altered  nothing  either 
in  rites  or  in  doctrines.  The  scenes  of  his  latter  days  were, 
through  the  goodness  of  God,  calm  and  peaceful.  During 
the  last  year  of  his  life,  when  he  had  grown  too  weak  to 
preach,  he  daily  frequented  the  house  of  God,  and  there 
commended  both  himself  and  the  church  to  the  Divine  mercy  ; 
taking  part  also  in  the  consultations  held  for  the  good  of 
the  church.  He  often  conversed  delightfully  with  his  frienda 
on  the  blessed  hope  of  eternal  life,  and  on  the  prospects 
opening  to  posterity.  After  offering  up  fervent  prayers, 
and  frequently  repeating  the  words,  "  This  is  life  eternal,  to 
know  thee  the  onlj'  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou 
hast  sent,"  he  slept  in  peace,  April  20,  1558,  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

Justus  Menius  had  for  many  years  laboured  successfully 
at  Saxe-Gotha :  but  the  year  before  his  death  he  sought  at 
Leipzig  some  retreat  from  the  contests  raised  by  Flacius. 

Schnepfius  was  of  a  good  family  at  Hailbrun,  and  was 
by  a  pious  mother  devoted  to  the  service  of  God  and  religion 
from  his  infancy.     He  at  first,  however,  applied  himself  to 


LUTHERAN  REFORMERS.  311 

jurisprudence,  and  with  those  flattering  prospects  of  suc- 
cess which  a  profession  immediately  conversant  with  prop- 
erty and  men's  temporal  interests  never  fails  to  hold  out  to 
talents  and  industry;  but  he  was  prevailed  upon  by  the 
entreaties  of  his  mother  to  turn  his  back  upon  the  splendid 
visions  of  earthly  riches  and  honours,  and  to  fulfil  her 
original  wishes  respecting  him.  After  he  began  to  apply  to 
theology,  he  continued  for  six  years  involved  in  the  laby- 
rinths of  papal  error  ;  but  at  length  he  arrived  at  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth,  by  means  of  the  light  which  Luther  had 
been  the  instrument  of  diffusing.  This  was  soon  after  the 
year  1520.  After  labouring  usefully  at  some  other  places, 
he  was  calLd  to  the  office  of  a  preacher  at  Marpurg,  and  a 
professor  in  the  university  which  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
had  founded  there.  In  that  situation  he  acquired  great 
weight  and  influence  :  but  he  was  at  length  induced  to  ex- 
change it  for  the  important  post  of  pastor  of  Stutgard,  under 
Ulric  of  Wiirtemberg,  in  1535.  In  1543  he  removed  to 
Tiibingen,  under  the  same  prince,  and  continued  there  till 
driven  away,  to  the  great  grief  of  the  citizens,  by  the  means 
taken  to  enforce  the  Interim.  He  was  then  made  rector  ot 
the  new  university  of  Jena,  by  the  sons  of  John  Frederic  ; 
and  filled  his  office  with  honour  till  his  death,  in  the  sixty- 
third  year  of  his  age,  November  1,  1558. — He  had  attended 
most  of  the  diets  and  conferences  held  on  the  subject  of 
religion  ;  and,  in  particular,  had  been  Bucer's  coadjutor  in 
his  disputations  with  Malvenda,  at  Ratisbon,  in  1546. 

The  death  of  Melancthon  himself  took  place  in  1560,  and 
that  of  Amsdorf  about  1563. 

Joachim  Morlin,  first  driven  from  Prussia  for  his  oppo- 
sition to  Osiander,  but  afterward  recalled  and  made  a 
bishop  there  ;  John  Aurifaber,  late  of  Breslaw,  but  now  of 
Jena ;  Paul  Eber,  successor  to  Forster  in  x'Ml  Saints 
church,  and  afterward  to  Justus  Jonas  as  chief  pastor  of 
Wittemberg  ;  John  Brentius,  formerly  of  Halle  in  Suabia, 
but  latterly  of  Stutgard  ;  John  Pfeffinger  of  Leipzig  ;  and 
George  Major  of  VVittemberg,  survived  to  a  later  period, 
and  died  between  the  years  1566  and  1574.  Brentius  suf- 
fered cruel  persecati(jns  on  account  of  the  Interim.  His 
history  furnishes  a  warning  to  students,  he  having  con- 
tracted a  distressing  and  injurious  habit  of  sleeplessness, 
which  continued  to  the  end  of  his  days,  by  accustoming 


312  LUTHERAN    REFORMERS. 

himself  to  rise  soon  after  midnight  to  pursue  his  studies. — 
Eber  excites  our  sympathy,  by  having  been  crippled  in 
early  youth  by  a  fall,  the  circumstances  of  which  were  con- 
cealed from  his  parents,  and  the  opportunity  thus  lost  of 
using  means  which  might  have  prevented  or  alleviated  its 
consequences.  He  lived,  however,  to  become  not  only  a 
very  excellent,  but  an  eminent  and  highly  useful  character. 
— For  Major  a  painful  interest  is  excited  by  his  heavy 
domestic  afflictions,  which  he  bore  with  Christian  constancy 
and  resignation. 

The  notice  of  these  excellent  and  eminent  men  (for 
none  but  eminent  men  have  been  recounted),  however  brief 
it  may  have  been,  cannot  but  be  gratifying,  if  it  were  only 
for  their  number — which  shows  how  remarkably  God  had 
at  that  period  visited  his  church,  and  replenished  it  with 
able  faithful  pastors  and  reformers.  The  only  circum- 
stances which  excite  our  regret  are,  finding  so  great  a  num- 
ber of  such  men  removed  in  the  course  of  twenty  years, 
and  so  many  of  them  in  the  very  midst  of  their  days  and 
their  usefulness.  The  latter  of  these  circumstances,  in 
particular,  impresses  upon  us  the  necessity  of  "  working 
while  it  is  day,"  seeing  the  night  so  soon  cometh,  "  wherein 
no  man  can  work."  But  the  Son  of  God  "  holdeth  the 
stars — the  angels  of  the  churches — in  his  right  hand,"  and 
disposeth  of  them  as  seemeth  him  good.  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, but  feel  and  lament,  that  the  succession  of  men  coming 
up  in  the  Lutheran  church  was  deteriorating,  and  they 
attained  not  the  level  of  their  predecessors  in  simplicity  and 
devotedness.  Many  of  them  were  turning  aside  to  vain 
jangling.  We  shall  therefore  gladly  withdraw  our  atten- 
tion from  scenes  of  growing  secularity  and  contention,  to 
fix  it  again,  should  circumstances  permit,  on  those  earlier 
stages  of  a  reformed  church,  which  we  may  hope  to  find 
marked  with  greater  spirituality. 

Here,  then,  we  consider  our  history  of  the  Lutheran 
reformation  as  regularly  closing.  A  few  miscellaneous 
matters,  however,  indirectly  connected  with  it,  may  be 
referred  to  another  chapter,  which  may  be  considered  in 
the  light  of  an  appendix. 


p.  p.  VERGERIO.  313 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

P.  P.  Vcrgerio,  and  Francis  Spira — Jican  Diaz — The  Wal- 
denses  of  Provence — The  Council  of  Trent. 

It  has  been  already  intimated*  that  Peter  Paul  Ver- 
gerio,  who  was  for  many  years  a  confidential  agent  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  and  for  his  services  was  made  bishop  of 
Capo  D' [stria,  in  the  territory  of  Venice,  eventually  became 
a  Protestant,  and  suffered  for  his  religion.  The  account 
given  of  his  conversion  and  subsequent  conduct  deserves 
to  be  here  recited.  The  last  service  in  which  Vergerio  was 
employed  by  the  pope,  though  under  the  assumed  character 
of  a  delegate  from  the  French  king,  was  at  the  conferences 
held  at  Worms  in  1540,  1541, — to  frustrate  their  design,  and 
procure  their  dissolution  ;  in  which  objects  he  succeeded. 
On  his  return  to  Rome,  the  pope  designed  to  make  him  a 
cardinal ;  but  at  this  time  a  suspicion  was  revived,  which 
Cardinal  Aleander  had  three  years  before  insinuated,  that, 
by  long  intercourse  with  the  Germans,  Vergerio  had  become 
too  favourably  disposed  to  the  Lutheran  heresy.  Vergerio, 
being  informed  by  one  of  the  cardinals  what  had  obstructed 
his  advancement,  was  both  surprised  and  indignant ;  and  to 
clear  himself  of  the  injurious  suspicion,  retired  to  the  seat 
of  his  bishopric,  to  write  a  book  Avhich  should  bear  this 
title,  "Against  the  Apostates  of  Germany."  But  in  order 
to  refute  the  Lutherans  it  was  necessary  to  read  their  books, 
and  in  doing  this  an  effect  was  produced,  as  we  may  assu- 
redly believe  under  the  influence  of  Divine  grace,  which 
Vergerio  had  little  anticipated ;  he  became  convinced  that 
the  principles  he  was  opposing  were  true,  and  founded  in 
Scripture.  "  Laying  aside,  therefore,"  says  the  historian, 
"  all  hopes  of  a  cardinal's  hat,  he  went  to  consult  with  his 
own  brother,  John  Baptista,  bishop  of  the  neighbouring  city 
of  Pola.  His  brother,  alarmed,  at  first  bewailed  his  con- 
dition, but  having  at  his  earnest  entreaty  applied  himself  to 

*  See  p.  74. 
Vol.  II.— D  d 


314  p.  p.  VERGERIO. 

search  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  him,  particularly  on  the 
great  point  of  justification,  he  also  yielded  to  conviction,  and 
concluded  the  popish  doctrine  to  be  false.  Whereupon, 
rejoicing  in  one  another,  they  began  to  teach  the  people  of 
Istria  (as  the  office  of  a  bishop  requires),  and  to  preach  up 
the  benefit  of  Christ  to  mankind,  pointing  out  at  the  same 
time  what  works  God  requires  of  us  ;  that  so  they  might 
bring  men  over  to.  the  true  worship  of  their  Maker."  But 
many  adversaries  arose  against  them,  among  whom  Han- 
nibal Grisonio,  the  chief  of  the  Inquisition,was  distinguished. 
This  man,  coming  to  Pola  and  Capo  D'Istria,  rushed  into 
the  houses  of  the  citizens,  and  searched  for  prohibited 
books.  He  then  mounted  the  pulpit,  and  pronounced  all 
excommunicated  who  did  not  inform  of  persons  suspected 
of  Lutheranism,  threatening  those  who  did  not  repent  and 
submit  themselves,  that  they  should  be  burned  at  the  stake.* 
He  further  openly  incited  the  people  to  stone  Vergerio  and 
his  heretical  associates,  as  the  true  cause  of  the  calamities 
which  they  had  of  late  years  suffered  in  their  olives,  their 
corn,  their  vines,  their  cattle,  and  other  goods.  Vergerio 
upon  this  withdrew  to  his  friend  Cardinal  Hercules  Gon- 
zaga,  at  Mantua  ;  but  being  soon  given  to  understand  that 
he  could  not  be  harboured  there,  he  betook  himself,  in 
March,  1546,  to  the  council  then  sitting  at  Trent,  in  which 
he  had  a  right  to  appear  as  a  member,  designing  to  justify 
himself  before  the  assembled  fathers.  The  pope,  under- 
standing his  design,  though  he  would  gladly  have  made  him 
a  prisoner,  yet  dared  not  venture  upon  a  step  which  would 
have  given  the  Germans  such  a  handle,  and  so  glaringly 
have  impeached  the  freedom  of  the  council.  He  contented 
himself,  therefore,  with  ordering  that  he  should  not  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  assembly,  or  be  heard  by  them.  In  conse- 
quence, after  some  other  removals,  he  at  length  took  up  his 
abode  at  Padua.  And  here  there  seems  reason  to  suspect 
that  his  zeal  in  some  degree  abated,  even  if  his  determina- 
tion did  not  waver,  when  a  very  awful  occurrence,  in  the 
year  154S,  made  a  salutary  impression  on  his  mind. 

*  "  He  denounced  his  threats  from  door  to  door  everywhere. . . .  Soon 
after  nothing  was  seen  but  accusations  •  every  one  engaged  in  them, 
without  regard  to  consanguinity  or  grariiude ;  the  wife  did  not  spare 
her  husband,  the  son  his  father,  or  the  client  his  patron." — Bayle,  Art. 
Vergerio. 


FRANCIS   spreA.  ^  315 

This  was  no  other  than  the  awful  fate  of  Francia  Spira, 
which  every  one  has  seen  alluded  to,  but  with  the  particu- 
lars of  which  few  comparatively  are  acquainted.  Spira  was 
a  lawyer  in  extensive  practice  at  the  bar,  who  resided  at 
Citadella,  not  far  from  Padua.  He  had  embraced  the 
reformed  religion  with  great  zeal  and  earnestness  ;  and, 
making  daily  proficiency  in  the  knowledge  of  its  truths, 
expressed  his  thoughts  concerning  the  several  points  of  doc- 
trine with  great  freedom,  both  to  his  friends  and  to  those 
generally  with  whom  he  conversed.  Information  of  this 
was  conveyed  to  the  pope's  legate  at  Venice,  and  Spira 
began  to  perceive  the  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed, 
and  to  revolve  with  himself  what  was  best  to  be  done.  The 
legate  had  sent  for  him,  and  he  determined  to  obey  the 
summons.  Before  him  he  retracted  his  alleged  errors, 
begged  absolution,  and  promised  obedience  in  future.  The 
legate  enjoined  him  to  go  home  and  make  a  public  recanta- 
tion. He  promised  to  do  so  ;  and  although  his  conscience 
reproached  him,  yet  at  the  sohcitation  of  his  friends, 
who  told  him  that  the  welfare,  not  only  of  himself,  but 
of  his  wife,  his  children,  his  estate,  and  every  thing  de- 
pended upon  it,  he  executed  his  sinful  engagement.  But 
soon  after,  struck  with  horror  at  what  he  had  done,  he  fell 
sick  both  in  body  and  mind,  and  began  to  despair  of  God's 
mercy.  Growing  worse  and  worse,  and  expressing  him- 
self in  language  two  awful  to  be  repeated,  concerning  his 
crime  and  his  inevitable  damnation,  he  was  removed,  for  the 
sake  of  better  advice,  from  Citadella  to  Padua.  The  physi- 
cians pronounced  his  malady  to  be  "  the  effect  of  pensive- 
ness  and  too  anxious  thought,"  and  recommended  as  the 
.best  remedy  good  discourse  and  spiritual  consolation. 
Many  learned  men  therefore  daily  visited  him,  and  laboured 
to  relieve  his  mind  by  such  passages  of  Scripture  as  exhibit 
the  riches  and  extent  of  the  mercy  of  God  towards  repenting 
sinners.  He  told  them  that  he  denied  not  the  truth  of  all 
they  said,  but  that  these  texts  belonged  not  to  him,  for  he 
was  doomed  to  everlasting  pains,  because  for  fear  of  danger 
he  had  abjured  the  known  truth ;  that  these  pains  he 
already  felt  in  his  mind,  and  could  not  love  God,  but  hor- 
ribly hated  him.  In  this  condition  he  continued,  refusing 
all  sustenance,  and  spitting  it  out  again  when  forced  upon 
him,     Advice  and  counsel,  whethey  of  the  physician  or  tho 


316  JUAN    DIAZ. 

divine,  being  lost  upon  him,  and  his  bodily  infirmity  and 
the  anguish  of  his  mind  increasing  daily,  he  was  taken 
home  again,  and  there  died  miserably  in  all  the  horrors  of 
despair. — Such  examples  are  happily  rare,  but  they  do  from 
time  to  time  occur,  presenting  a  warning  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, that  we  should  not,  for  any  terrors  or  any  allurements 
that  a  fellow-creature  can  hold  out  to  us,  be  induced  to  do 
violence  to  our  consciences,  and  thus  draw  down  upon  our- 
selves the  wrath  of  Him  who  is  "  able  to  destroy  both  body 
and  soul  in  hell." 

Among  others  v/ho  frequently  visited  Spira,  while  he  lay 
at  Padua,  was  Vergerio  ;  and  whatever  might  be  the  suc- 
cess of  his  endeavours  in  behalf  of  the  unhappy  man,  the 
effect  was  good  with  regard  to  himself.  He  became  more 
confirmed  in  the  principles  he  had  received,  and  resolved 
to  leave  his  native  country,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  a  voluntary  exile,  in  order  to  take  up  his  abode  in 
some  place  where  he  might  safely  profess  the  doctrine  of 
Christ.  Accordingly,  he  a  few  months  afterward  quitted 
the  country  of  Bergamo,  and  went  and  settled  in  Switzer- 
land among  the  Grisons :  and  having  for  some  years 
preached  the  gospel  there  and  in  the  Valteline,  he  was 
invited  by  Christopher  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg  to  Tiibingen, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  His  brother, 
the  Bishop  of  Pola,  died  before  Vergerio  left  Italy,  with  the 
suspicion  of  having  been  poisoned  ;  and  he  himself  was, 
about  the  time  of  his  removal,  deprived  of  his  bishopric  by 
a  sentence  of  the  court  of  Rome.     He  died  October  4,  1566. 

Another  convert  from  popery  paid  a  heavier  penalty  for 
his  desertion  of  "  the  true  church."  The  following  tragical 
occurrence  took  place  at  the  period  of  the  last  conferences 
at  Ratisbon  in  the  year  1546. 

Juan  Diaz,  by  birth  a  Spaniard,  having  received  a  learned 
education  in  his  own  country,  removed  to  the  university  of 
Paris,  where  he  passed  thirteen  years,  applying  himself 
principally  to  theology.  His  skill  in  the  learned  languages 
(including  the  Hebrew),  and  his  talents  and  attainments 
generally,  as  well  as  the  virtuous  habits  of  his  life,  are 
spoken  of  in  the  highest  terms.  Having  met  with  the 
writings  of  Luther,  and  being  indefatigable  in  the  study  of 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  he  became  gradually  more  and  more 


JUAN    DIAZ.  317 

dissatisfied  with  the  divinity  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  in  con- 
sequence left  Paris,  and  repaired  first  to  Geneva,  where 
Calvin  then  taught,  and  finally  to  Strasburg,  where  he  cul- 
tivated the  acquaintance  of  Bucer.  Bucer,  appreciating 
his  talents,  and  being  well  satisfied  with  his  character,  when 
he  himself  was  deputed  to  attend  the  conferences  at  Ratis- 
bon,  petitioned  the  senate  of  Strasburg  to  make  Diaz  his 
associate,  which  was  accordingly  done.  When  he  came 
to  Ratisbon,  Diaz  waited  upon  his  fellow-countryman  Mal- 
venda,  whom  he  had  known  at  Paris,  and  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  led  in  the  conference  on  the  part  of  the  papists. 
Malvenda,  affecting  amazement,  expressed  his  deep  regret 
to  see  him  in  those  parts  and  in  the  company  of  Protestants, 
"  who,"  he  said,  "  would  triumph  more  for  one  Spaniard 
gained  to  their  party,  than  for  several  thousand  Germans !" 
He  entreated  him,  therefore,  to  regard  his  reputation,  and 
not  to  bring  so  foul  a  blot  on  his  character,  his  family,  and 
his  country.  Diaz  repUed  modestly,  said  a  few  words  in 
favour  of  the  Protestant  doctrine,  and  at  that  time  took  his 
leave.  A  few  days  after,  they  met  again  by  appointment  ; 
and  then  Malvenda,  in  a  studied  harangue,  recurring  to  the 
character  and  claims  of  their  common  country,  and  setting 
forth  the  terrors,  both  temporal  and  eternal,  of  a  papal  ex- 
communication, left  no  means  untried  to  withdraw  him  from 
his  present  connexions  ;  concluding  with  the  recommenda- 
tion, that  he  should  not  venture  to  wait  for  the  emperor's 
arrival  at  Ratisbon,  but  should  set  out  to  meet  him,  and 
casting  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  emperor's  confessor,* 
acknowledge  his  offence,  and  sue  for  mercy ;  in  which  suit 
he  promised  his  own  endeavours  to  assist  him.  Diaz, 
regarding  this  professedly  friendly  advice  as  insidious,  and 
otherwise  moved  by  what  he  had  heard,  replied  at  consider- 
able length,  with  great  spirit,  and  with  that  eloquence 
which  is  mentioned  as  one  of  his  distinguishing  endow- 
ments. He  declared  himself  ready  to  meet  all  dangers,  and 
willing  to  shed  his  blood  in  what  he  esteemed  the  most 
important  cause  on  earth  ;  "  for  what,"  said  he,  "  is  life 
without  thfi  knowledge  of  the  true  religion,  but  a  continued 
series  of  unrelieved  miseries  ]"  He  referred  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Saviour  concerning  such  as  should  not  confess 


Peter  a  Soto,  a  perfidious  sanguinarv  bigot. 
D  d2 


318  JUAN    DIAZ. 

him  before  men  ;  a  declaration  which  he  told  Malvenda 
ought  to  make  him  tremble.  He  wondered  that  Malvenda 
should  talk  to  him  in  the  manner  he  had  done  concerning 
the  pope's  excommunication,  which  almost  every  child  now 
knew  to  be  but  an  empty  sound,  devised  to  uphold  the 
tyranny  of  the  court  of  Rome.  The  pope,  however,  might 
freely,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  assume  to  himself  all  the 
power  and  all  the  riches  of  the  world,  if  only  he  would 
allow  the  people  to  enjoy  the  heavenly  doctrine,  unadulte- 
rated and  pure.  With  respect  to  the  state  of  the  whole 
church  in  communion  with  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  that  of 
his  own  country  in  particular  (of  whose  steadfast  adherence 
to  the  faith  Malvenda  boasted,  as  rendering  Spain  the  ad- 
miration of  the  world),  he  deplored  it  more  than  words 
could  express  ;  and  he  appealed  to  the  conscience  of  Mal- 
venda for  the  truth  of  various  particulars  which  he  enume- 
rated concerning  the  clergy  and  the  people.  "  You,"  he 
said,  "  and  those  associated  with  you,  effectually  shut  out 
of  Spain  every  ray  of  that  divine  light  which  is  now  rising 
upon  almost  all  the  world  beside."  He  declared  his  deter- 
mination, by  the  grace  of  God,  to  profess  and  proclaim  with 
his  last  breath  the  doctrine  which  he  had  embraced  ;  and 
he  solemnly  warned  Malvenda  to  reconsider  the  course  he 
was  pursuing,  to  fear  the  judgment  of  God,  and  to  promote, 
instead  of  obstructing,  the  proj/ress  of  his  truth. 

The  firmness  and  zeal  of  Diaz  deserve  our  admiration  ; 
but  they  may  be  considered  as  having  cost  him  his  life.  Mal- 
venda wrote  to  the  emperor's  confessor,  informing  him  of  all 
that  had  passed,  and  solemnly  urged  the  necessity  of 
"  promptly  meeting  the  rising  evil."  When  the  letter  was 
received,  there  happened  to  be  present  one  Malvina,  or  Mar- 
quina,  lately  come  from  Rome.  He  had  been  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  Diaz,  and  being  informed  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him,  he  at  the  time  attempted  somewhat  in 
his  excuse  ;  and,  returning  home  to  Rome  a  few  days 
after,  he  reported  what  had  passed  to  Alfonso,  the  brother  of 
Diaz,  an  advocate  in  the  sacred  Rota.  Alfonso,  struck 
with  the  statement,  and  perhaps  also  with  letters  which 
had  been  written  to  him,  immediately  set  out  on  his  jour- 
ney, and  did  not  rest  till  he  found  his  brother  at  Neuburg, 
whither  he  had  gone  upon  business  during  the  suspension 
of  the  conferences.     Juan,  greatly  surprised  to  see  him, 


JUAN   DIAZ.  319 

was  soon  informed  of  the  cause  of  his  visit,  and  again 
assailed  with  the  same  arguments  which  Malvenda  had 
previously  employed  ;  but  they  had  no  better  success  than 
before.  Alfonso  then  held  out  to  him  tempting  offers,  if  he 
would  accompany  him  to  Rome  :  but  all  in  vain.  He  next 
therefore  changed  his  plan  ;  and,  having  suffered  some  days 
to  elapse,  told  him  that  he  was  himself  convinced,  and 
professed  to  be  in  love  with  the  gospel,  and  desirous  to  pro- 
mote it  ;  but  he  represented  to  his  brother  that  he  was 
thrown  away  in  Germany,  where  there  were  so  many 
learned  men  to  uphold  the  truth  :  he  entreated  him  there- 
fore to  go  with  him  into  Italy,  where  he  might  be  of  service 
to  multitudes  :  they  v/ould  take  Trent  in  the  way,  where 
numerous  learned  persons  were  assembled,  and,  after  visit- 
ing Rome,  proceed  to  Naples  :  and,  if  right  doctrine  were 
thus  disseminated  in  Italy,  it  might  (he  said)  be  a  means  of 
its  spreading  into  their  native  country  of  Spain  also.  Juan 
overjoyed  at  the  change,  both  on  his  brother's  account  and 
his  own,  wrote  to  his  friends  at  Ratisbon  ;  who  in  return 
advised  him  by  no  means  to  think  of  the  journey  :  and 
Bucer,  coming  to  Neuberg  on  his  return  from  Ratisbon, 
would  not  stir  from  the  place  till  Alfonso  had  taken  his  de- 
parture. Alfonso  therefore  prepared  to  make  his  journey 
alone  ;  and,  the  day  before  he  set  out,  addressed  his  brother 
in  the  most  affectionate  manner ;  exhorted  him  to  con- 
stancy, and  thought  himself  most  happy  in  that,  through 
his  brother's  discourse,  he  had  in  a  few  days  made  such  ad- 
vances in  the  right  knowledge  of  God  ;  begged  Juan  to 
write  to  him  from  time  to  time,  promised  him  every  service 
in  his  power,  and  forced  money  upon  him  even  against  his 
will.  Thus,  with  mutual  tears,  they  took  their  leave,  and 
Alfonso  travelled  post  to  Augsburg,  thirty-two  miles  from 
Neuberg.  Having  there  paid  the  driver  to  wait  his  conve- 
nience, he  suddenly  returned  back  to  Neuberg  on  horse- 
back. By  the  road  he  purchased  an  axe  of  a  carpenter, 
and  entered  the  town  by  break  of  day,  accompanied  by  a 
bloody  ruffian,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Italy, 
habited  as  a  courier ;  and  made  his  way  directly  to  his 
brother's  lodgings.  Here  he  put  the  pretended  courier  for- 
ward, as  bearing  a  letter  for  Juan  from  his  brother  Alfonso. 
The  man,  being  let  in,  went  directly  up  stairs ;  and  Juan 
Diaz,  being  awakened  out  of  his  sleep,  ^nd  told  that  a  post 


320  JUAN   DIAZ. 

was  there  from  his  brother,  immediately  went  out  to  him 
into  the  next  room,  having  only  thrown  a  cloak  loosely  over 
him ;  and  while  with  some  difficulty  (it  being  not  yet  fully 
Ught)  he  read  the  letter,  which  expressed  mighty  concern 
for  his  danger,  and  warned  liim  to  beware  of  Malvenda  and 
other  such  enemies  of  the  gospel,  the  assassin,  standing 
behind  him,  and  drawing  the  axe  from  under  his  coat, 
struck  it  with  such  force  into  his  scull,  that  he  literally  fell 
dead  without  uttering  a  word  !  The  man  then,  leaving  the 
axe  in  the  wound,  hastened  down  stairs,  and  joined  Al- 
fonso, who  was  keeping  watch  at  the  bottom  ;  when  they 
set  off  again  together  with  all  speed  to  Augsburg.  The 
whole  was  transacted  with  such  silence,  that  nothing  was 
heard  of  it  till  the  rattling  of  the  ruffian's  spurs  in  going 
down  stairs,  after  the  murder,  awakened  Claude  Senarcle,  a 
Savoyard  of  noble  family,  who  was  studying  under  the 
direction  of  Bucer  and  Diaz,  and  who  happened  that  night  to 
sleep  in  the  same  chamber  with  his  instructer.  He,  imme- 
diately getting  up  and  going  into  the  room,  had  the  horrid 
spectacle  of  his  murdered  friend  presented  to  his  sight! 

The  murderers  were  presently  pursued,  and  were  taken 
at  Inspruck  :  but,  to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  Charles  V., 
though  there  was  the  fullest  proof  against  them,  and 
though  justice  was  repeatedly  demanded  of  him  in  this 
cause  by  many  princes  of  the  empire,  they  were,  through 
the  influence  of  the  cardinnls  of  Trent  and  Augsburg, 
screened  by  him,  and  never  brought  to  account.  He  first  for- 
bade the  ordinary  magistrates  to  proceed,  declaring  that  he 
would  hear  the  cause  in  the  diet  :  but  when  formally  called 
upon  to  do  so,  all  the  reply  he  made  was,  that  he  would  ad- 
vise about  it  with  his  brother,  within  whose  territories  the 
accused  were  now  prisoners  ;  and  when  Ferdinand  was 
applied  to,  his  answer  was  still  to  the  same  purport.  The 
murderers  were  in  consequence  allowed  to  escape  untried 
and  with  impunity  :  and  "the  liberated  fratricide  appeared 
openly  at  Trent  without  exciting  a  shudder  in  the  breasts  of 
the  holy  fathers  met  in  council;  w;is  welcomed  back  to 
Rome  ;  and  linally  returned  to  his  native  country,  where  he 
was  admitted  to  the  society  of  men  of  r.mk  and  education," 
who  rather  ap})lauded  than  censured  his  sanctified  crime. 

This  particular  account  of  Dir-*",  we  owe  to  Claude  Sen- 
arcle, above  mentioned,  who  published  his  history,  with  a 


THE  WALDENSES  OF   PROVENCE.  321 

preface  by  Bucer,  in  the  very  year,  1546,  in  which  the  murder 
took  place.  Senarcle  bears  a  pleasing  testimony  to  the  de- 
vout manner  in  which  Diaz  was  accustomed  to  pray,  and 
to  his  having  done  so,  in  his  presence,  the  day  before  the 
murder  ;  adding  also,  "  that  he  had  passed  a  considerable 
part  of  that  very  night  in  extolling  the  works  of  God,  and' 
in  proposing  motives  to  sincere  devotedness  to  him."  Sen- 
arcle's  account  is  confirmed  in  every  material  point  by  other 
narratives  published  at  the  time  :  and  indeed  "  so  far  were 
the  Roman  Catholics  from  denying  the  facts,  that  many  of 
them,  and  especially  the  countrymen  of  Diaz,  justified  and 
even  applauded  the  deed."*  Even  Maimbourg,  who  wrote 
in  the  seventeenth  centuiy,  though  he  condemns  the  mur- 
der as  the  offspring  of  "  a  false  zeal  in  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion," shows  little  abhorrence  of  the  act. 

In  the  case  of  Juan  Diaz  we  have  had  an  awfiil  example 
of  the  power  of  false  or  perverted  religion  to  blind  the  un- 
derstanding, and  to  harden  the  hearts  of  men ;  not  only 
suppressing  the  common  feelings  of  humanity,  but  extin- 
guishing every  spark  of  relative  affection.  The  following 
narrative,  given  alike  by  Sleidan  the  Protestant,  and  De 
Thou  (or  Thuanus)  the  Roman  Catholic  historian,  con- 
cerning the  Waldenses  of  Provence — a  part  of  that  poor 
and  suffering  but  virtuous  people,  who  have  m.aintained 
from  the  earliest  ages  a  steady  protest  against  the  corrup- 
tions of  the  Roman  Antichrist — exhibits  another  instance 
of  the  same  kind,  only  on  a  more  extensive  scale.  The 
events  related  took  place  in  the  year  1546  :  and  they  form 
but  too  true  a  specimen  of  those  which  have  often  marked 
the  Waldensian  history. 

"  In  Provence,  in  France,  there  is  a  people  called  Wal- 
denses, who  by  an  old  custom  acknowledge  not  the  pope  of 
Rome,  have  alw^ays  professed  a  greater  purity  of  doc- 
trine, and,  since  Luther  appeared,  anxiously  sought  after 
an  increase  of  knowloage.  Many  times  had  they  been 
complained  of  to  the  king,  as  despisers  of  magistrates  and 
fomenters  of  rebellion  ;    which   envious   rather  than   true 

*  Sepulveda.  *'  one  of  the  most  elegant  prose  writers  who  flourished  at 
that  time  in  Spain,"'  expressly  says,  "  The  news  of  the  slaughter  was  dis- 
agreeable to  none  of  our  countrymen."  T  add  this  fact,  and  a  sentence  or 
two  at  the  close  of  the  above  narrative,  from  Dr.  M'Crie. 


322  THE    WALDENSES 

accusation  is  by  most  made  use  of  at  this  day.  They  live 
together  in  some  towns  and  villages,  among  which  is 
Merindol.  About  five  years  before,  sentence  had  been  pro- 
nounced against  them  in  the  parliament  of  Aix,  the  chief 
judicature  of  the  province,  that  they  should  all  promiscu- 
ously be  destroyed,  that  the  houses  should  be  pulled  down, 
the  village  levelled  with  the  ground,  the  trees  felled,  and 
the  place  rendered  a  desert.  Now,  though  this  sentence 
was  pronounced,  yet  it  was  not  then  put  in  execution ; 
William  Bellay  of  Langey,  the  king's  lieutenant  in  Pie- 
mont,  with  some  others,  having  represented  the  case  to  the 
king  as  one  that  ought  to  be  reviewed  by  himself.  But  at 
length,  in  this  year,  John  Meinier,  president  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Aix,  having  summoned  that  body  together,  on  the 
12th  of  April,  reads  to  them  the  king's  letters,  which 
warranted  him  to  carry  the  sentence  into  effect.  These 
letters  Meinier  is  said  to  have  obtained  by  the  influence  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Tournon,  and  through  the  medium  of  Philip 
Courtain,  a  fit  agent  in  such  a  business.  However,  having 
received  them  in  the  month  of  January,  he  produced  them 
not  immediately,  but  kept  them  back  to  a  s^eason  more 
proper  for  the  exploit.  The  letters  having  been  read,  some 
members  of  the  parliament  were  chosen  to  see  that  they 
were  duly  complied  with ;  and  Meinier  offered  himself  for 
their  assistant,  as  having  in  the  absence  of  Grignian,  the 
governor  of  the  province,  the  chief  administration  of  affairs. 
Now,  before  this  time,  he  had  by  the  king's  orders  raised 
forces  for  the  English  war;  and  these  he  makes  use  of  for 
his  present  purpose.  Besides  these,  he  orders  all  that  were 
able  to  bear  arms  at  Marseilles,  Aix,  Aries,  and  other  popu- 
lous places,  to  repair  to  him,  on  pain  of  severe  penalties  in 
case  of  disobedience.  He  had  also  assistance  sent  him 
from  Avignon,  which  is  under  the  dominion  of  the  pope. — 
His  first  attack  was  made,  not  on  the  inhabitants  of  Merin- 
dol, but  upon  the  country  adjoining  the  town  of  Pertuis.  On 
the  13th  of  April,  Meinier,  attended  by  a  number  of  gentle- 
men and  officers,  came  to  Cadenet.  In  the  mean  time  some 
commanders  of  troops  make  an  irruption  into  one  or  two 
villages  situate  on  the  river  Durance,  and,  putting  all  to  fire 
and  sword,  plunder  and  carry  away  a  great  many  cattle. 
The  like  was  done  also  in  other  places  at  the  same  time. 
The  people  of  Merindol,  seeing  all  in  flames  around  them, 


OF    PROVENCE.  323 

leave  their  habitations,  flee  into  the  woods,  and  pass  the 
night  in  great  consternation  at  the  village  of  Saintfalaise. 
The  inhabitants  of  this  place  were  themselves  preparing  for 
flight ;  for  the  pope's  vice-legate,  the  Bishop  of  CavaiTlon, 
had  ordered  some  captains  to  fall  upon  them,  and  put  them 
to  the  sword.  The  next  day  they  advanced  farther  into  the 
woods ;  for  they  were  beset  on  all  hands  with  danger, 
Meinier  having  made  it  death  for  any  person  to  aid  or  assist 
them,  and  commanding  them  all,  without  distinction,  to  be 
massacred  wherever  they  were  found.  The  same  order  was 
in  force  in  the  neighbouring  places  of  the  pope's  jurisdic- 
tion ;  and  some  bishops  of  that  country  were  reported  to 
have  maintained  a  great  part  of  the  troops  employed.  The 
fugitives  had  therefore  a  tedious  and  distressing  journey, 
marching  with  their  children  on  their  backs  and  in  their 
arms,  and  some  in  the  cradle,  and  poor  women  also  in  a 
state  of  pregnancy  following  in  the  rear.  When  they  had 
reached  the  appointed  place,  whither  many  in  that  forlorn 
condition  had  fled,  they  soon  had  intelligence  that  Meinier 
was  mustering  all  his  forces,  that  he  might  fall  upon  them. 
This  news  they  learned  towards  evening.  On  the  receipt 
of  it,  having  consulted  together  what  was  best  to  be  done, 
they  resolve,  because  the  ways  were  rough  and  difficult, 
to  leave  their  wives,  daughters,  and  little  children  there, 
with  some  few  to  bear  them  company  (among  whom  was 
one  of  their  ministers),  and  the  rest  to  betake  themselves, 
as  had  been  previously  proposed,  to  the  town  of  Mussi. 
This  they  did  in  the  hope  that  the  enemy  might  show  some 
compassion  towards  a  helpless  and  comfortless  multitude:  but 
what  wailing  and  lamentation,  what  groanings  and  embrac- 
ings  there  were  at  parting,  may  easily  be  conceived. — Having 
marched  the  whole  night,  and  passed  Mount  Leberon,  they 
had  the  sad  prospect  of  many  villages  and  farms  all  in 
flames.  Meinier,  in  the  mean  time,  having  divided  his 
troops  into  two  bodies,  sets  about  his  work :  and,  because 
he  had  got  intelligence  of  the  place  to  which  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Merindol  had  betaken  themselves,  he  himself  marches 
to  that  town,  and  sends  the  other  division  of  his  troops 
in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives.  But  before  these  were  come 
into  the  wood,  one  of  the  soldiers,  moved  vvith  pity,  runs 
before,  and  from  the  top  of  a  rock,  where  he  judged  the 
poor  fugitives  might  have  rested,  throws  down  two  stone»» 


324  THE    WALDENSES 

calling  to  them  by  intervals  (though  he  did  not  see  them), 
instantly  to  fly  for  their  lives  :  and,  at  the  same  moment, 
two  of  those  who  had  betaken  themselves  to  Mussi  come, 
and  having  got  notice  of  the  enemy's  approach,  compel  the 
minister  of  the  church,  and  the  rest  of  those  few  guards 
who,  as  we  said,  were  left  with  the  women,  to  be  gone, 
having  shown  them  a  steep  way  through  the  wood,  by  which 
they  might  escape  all  danger  in  their  flight.  Scarcely  had 
these  gone  when  the  raging  soldiers  come  in,  shouting  and 
makino-  a  heavy  noise,  and  with  drawn  swords  prepared  for 
the  butchery.  However,  for  the  present  they  forbear  to 
kill ;  but,  having  committed  many  acts  of  insult,  and  robbed 
the  poor  women  of  all  their  money  and  provisions,  they 
carry  them  away  prisoners.  They  had  purposed  to  have 
used  them  still  more  basely  ;  but  a  captain  of  horse  pre- 
vented it,  who  by  chance  coming  in  threatened  them,  and 
commanded  them  to  march  directly  to  Meinier :  so  that 
they  proceeded  no  further,  but,  leaving  the  women  there,  who 
were  about  five  hundred  in  number,  they  carried  off" the  cattle 
and  booty. — Meinier  in  the  mean  time  comes  to  Merindol, 
and,  finding  it  deserted,  plunders  and  sets  it  on  fire  ;  first 
exercising,  however,  an  act  of  barbarity  towards  the  only  per- 
son left  in  the  place,  a  youth,  whom  he  ordered  to  be  bound 
to  an  olive-tree  and  shot  to  death.  He  marches  next  to  Ca- 
brieres,  and  begins  to  batter  the  town.  Through  the  me- 
dium of  Captain  Poulen,  however,  he  persuades  the  towns- 
people, upon  promise  of  safety,  to  open  the  gates  ;  but, 
when  that  was  done,  and  the  soldiers  let  in,  after  a  little 
pause  all  were  put  to  the  sword,  without  respect  to  age  or 
sex.  Many  fled  to  the  church,  others  to  other  places,  and 
some  into  the  wine-cellar  of  the  castle  ;  but,  being  dragged 
out  (all  but  those  last  named),  into  a  meadow,  and  stripped 
naked,  they  were  murdered  without  exception  of  either  man 
or  woman.  Meinier  also  shuts  up  about  forty  women  in  a 
barn  full  of  hay  and  straw,  and  then  sets  it  onfire ;  and,  when 
the  poor  creatures,  having  attempted,  but  in  vain,  to  smother 
the  fire  with  their  clothes,  which  they  had  stripped  oflf  for  the 
purpose,  betook  themselves  to  the  opening  at  which  the  hay 
used  to  be  taken  in,  designing  to  leap  out,  they  were  kept  ir: 
with  pikes  and  spears,  till  they  all  perished  in  the  flames. 
This  happened  on  the  20th  of  April. — Meinier  after  this 
sends  part  of  his  forces  to  besiege  the  town  of  La  Coste : 


OF    PROVENCE.  325 

out,  just  as  they  were  beginning  their  march,  those  were 
found  who  had  fled  into  the  wine-cellar  of  the  castle.  A 
noise  being  thereupon  raised,  as  if  some  ambush  had  been 
discovered,  the  soldiers  are  recalled,  and  put  every  man  of 
them  to  the  sword.  The  number  of  the  slain,  in  the  town 
and  in  the  fields,  amounted  to  eight  hundred.  The  young 
infants  which  survived  the  massacre  were,  for  the  most  part, 
rebaptized  by  the  enemy. — Affairs  being  thus  despatched  at 
Cabrieres,  the  forces  were  sent  to  La  Coste.  The  governor 
of  that  town  had  urged  the  citizens  beforehand  to  carry 
their  arms  into  the  castle,  and  in  four  places  to  make 
breaches  in  their  walls  ;  which  if  they  would  do,  he  prom- 
ised, by  his  influence  with  Meinier,  to  secure  them  from  all 
injury.  They  were  prevailed  upon  to  comply  with  his  ad- 
vice, and  he  set  out,  apparently  to  intercede  for  them.  He 
had  not  gone  far  before  he  met  the  soldiers  ;  who  neverthe- 
less proceeded  in  their  march,  and  attacked  the  place.  At 
the  first  onset  they  did  but  little,  but  the  next  morning  they 
more  briskly  renewed  the  assault ;  and,  having  burned  all 
the  buildings  in  the  suburbs,  easily  became  masters  of  the 
place  ;  and  the  more  so  because  the  night  before  most  of  the 
inhabitants  had  deserted  the  town  and  fled,  having  let  them- 
selves down  from  the  walls  by  ropes.  After  slaughtering 
all  that  came  in  their  way,  and  plundering  the  town,  they 
rush  into  the  garden  adjoining  the  castle,  whither  the  women 
and  girls  had  fled  in  great  consternation,  and  there  treat 
them  with  such  barbarous  indecency  and  cruelty,  during  the 
next  day  and  night,  that  numbers  of  them  shortly  after 
died. — While  these  things  were  going  on  in  that  quarter, 
such  of  the  people  of  Merindol,  and  others  who  wandered 
with  them  through  the  woods  and  over  the  rocks,  as  were 
taken,  were  either  sent  to  the  galleys  or  put  to  death,  and 
many  of  them  died  of  want. — Not  far  from  the  town  of 
Mussi,  some  five-and-twenty  men  had  concealed  themselves 
in  a  cave  hollowed  out  in  a  rock :  but,  being  betrayed,  they 
were  all  suffocated  with  smoke  or  burned  to  death.  So  that 
no  kind  of  cruelty  was  abstained  from  towards  these 
poor  people.  Some  of  them,  however,  who  had  escaped 
the  massacre,  arrived  at  Geneva  and  the  neighbouring 
places. 

"  When  the  news  of  these  sad  events  reached  Germany 
it  raised  great  indignation.     Those  of  the  Swiss  also  who 

Vol.  IL— E  e 


326  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

v/ere  not  of  the  popish  religion  interceded  with  the  French 
king  to  show  clemency  to  such  as  had  fled  their  country  ; 
but  he  returned  them  for  answer,  that  he  '  had  just  cause 
for  what  he  had  done,  and  that  what  he  did  within  his  own 
territories,  or  how  he  punished  the  guilty,  it  no  more  con- 
cerned them  to  inquire  than  it  did  him  to  intermeddle  in 
their  affairs.' 

"  The  preceding  year  the  Waldenses  had  sent  to  the  king 
a  written  confession  of  their  faith,  that  he  might  perceive 
the  innocency  of  their  tenets."* 

In  the  preceding  narratives  we  have  seen  what  has  been 
the  too  frequent  practical  working  of  the  anti-christian  sys- 
tem with  which  the  Church  of  Rome  has  identified  itself. 
A  brief  notice  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
will  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  the  corrupt  doctrines  of 
that  church  have  been  sanctioned,  and  its  most  important 
affairs  conducted.  The  convocation  of  the  council  has  been 
noticed.  The  whole  term  of  its  duration,  from  its  com- 
mencement to  its  dissolution,  amounted  to  eighteen  years, 
extending  from  December,  1545,  to  December,  1563  :  but 
the  time  of  its  actual  session  was  somewhat  less  than  four 
years — more  than  fourteen  being  passed  in  a  state  of  actual 
or  virtual  suspension.  My  examination  of  its  history  leads 
me  fully  to  concur  in  the  sentence  of  Dr.  Robertson.  Hav- 
ing described  the  three  authors  to  whom  we  are  chiefly  in- 
debted for  the  accounts  we  have  of  it.  Father  Paul,  Cardinal 
Pallavicini,  and  Vargas  (all  of  them  Roman  Catholics, 
though  of  different  grades),  he  says  :  "  But  whichsoever  of 
these  authors  an  intelligent  person  takes  for  his  guide  in 
forming  a  judgment  concerning  the  spirit  of  the  council,  he 
must  discover  so  much  ambition  as  well  as  artifice  among 
some  of  the  members,  so  much  ignorance  and  corruption 
among  others  ;  he  must  observe  such  a  strange  infusion  of 
human  policy  and  passions,  mingled  with  such  a  scanty 
portion  of  simplicity,  sanctity  of  manners,  and  love  of  truth  ; 
. . .  that  he  will  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  believe  that  any 

*  Thuanus  says  that  twenty-two  towns  and  villages  were  destroyed. 
He  adds,  tiiat  Francis- 1,  was  reported  to  have  given  it  in  charge,  a  little 
before  his  death,  lo  his  son  Henry  to  call  the  parliament  of  Aix  to 
accouni  for  the  proceeiling  ;  and  that  one  person  was  put  to  death  ios 
the  part  he  had  taken  in  it. 


COUNCIL   OF   TRENT.  327 

extraordinary  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  hovered  over  this 
assembly,  and  dictated  its  decrees."  Indeed,  not  only  more 
secularity,  but  more  chicane  and  intrigue,  more  fierce  con- 
tention, more  that  is  opposite  to  all  which  ought  to  charac- 
terize a  sacred  assembly  whose  professed  objects  were  to 
investigate  Divine  truth,  and  to  purge  the  church  from  error 
in  doctrine  and  corruption  in  manners,  was  found  here  than 
in  the  ordinary  diets  and  p^irliaments  of  mere  worldly  poli- 
ticians. 

What  particularly  distinguished  this  council  was,  its  un- 
dertaking to  fix  the  doctrines  and  the  observances  of  the 
Romish  church  in  a  more  accurate  manner  than  ha<3  ever 
before  been  attempted  :  and  on  the  footing  on  which  it 
placed  both  one  and  the  other  they  must  be  considered  as 
standing  to  this  day,  for  it  is  the  last  council  that  has  been 
held :  no  other  assembly  has  since  been  called  possessing 
authority  to  revise  or  even  to  explain  its  decrees.  They 
must,  therefore,  as  far  as  they  go,  be  considered  as  the 
standard  of  the  faith  and  worship  of  every  consistent  Roman 
Catholic.  And  by  it,  doctrines  which  had  hitherto  been 
considered  as  mere  private  opinions,  open  to  discussion, 
were  absurdly  made  articles  of  faith,  and  required  to  be  re- 
ceived on  pain  of  excommunication ;  and  rites  which  had 
formerly  been  observed  only  in  deference  to  custom  sup- 
posed to  be  ancient,  were  established  by  the  authority  of 
the  church,  and  declared  to  be  essential  parts  of  its  worship. 
Thus  the  breach  between  the  Church  of  Rome  and  the  Pro- 
testants, instead  of  being  closed,  was  widened  and  made 
irreparable.  "Yet  still,"  says  Mosheim,  *'  those  who  expect 
to  derive  from  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  the 
compendious  confession  of  faith  which  was  drawn  up  by 
order  of  Pius  IV.,  a  clear,  complete,  and  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  Romish  faith  will  be  greatly  disappointed.  .  .  .  Many 
things  are  expressed  in  a  vague  and  ambiguous  manner, 
and  that  designedly,  on  account  of  the  intestine  divisions 
and  warm  debates  that  reigned  in  the  church.  .  .  .  Several 
tenets  are  omitted  which  no  Roman  Catholic  is  allowed  to 
call  in  question ; .  . .  .  and  several  doctrines  and  rules  of 
worship  are  inculcated  in  a  much  more  rational  and  decent 
manner  than  that  in  which  they  appear  in  the  daily  service 
of  the  church,  and  in  the  public  practice  of  its  members." 
The  view  therefore  presented  of  the  Roman  Catholic  re- 


328  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

ligion  by  the  definitions  of  the  Council  of  Trent  must  be 
considered  as  the  hast  imfavourahle  of  which  it  is  suscepti- 
ble ;  and  the  attempts  frequently  made*  to  soften  down  the 
Romish  doctrines  and  practices  even  much  below  this 
standard,  must  be  pronounced  fallacious,  and  a  perversion 
of  fact. 

The  decisions  of  the  council  on  several  important  subjects, 
traditions,  the  Apocrypha,  the  Vulgate  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— establishing  them  all  as  of  equal  authority  Vi'ith  the 
original  inspired  writings,  and  denouncing  anathemas 
against  all  who  should  dissent  from  these  decisions — have 
been  already  noticed. f 

In  favour  of  their  sanctioning  the  Vulgate  version  as  of 
inspired  authority,  the  argument,  F.  Paul  says,  weighed 
much,  "  that  if  every  one  had  liberty  to  examine  whether 
passages  on  which  the  doctrine  of  the  church  is  founded, 
were  well  translated,  running  to  other  translations,  and  seek- 
ing how  it  was  in  the  original,  the  new  grammarians  would 
confound  all,  and  would  be  made  judges  and  arbiters  of 
faith  ;  and,  instead  of  divines  and  canonists,  pedants  would 
be  preferred  to  be  bishops  and  cardinals." 

The  next  point  of  doctrine  considered  in  the  council  was 
original  sin.  The  whole  subject  proved  highly  perplexing 
to  the  fathers.  The  nature  of  this  original  taint  and  cor- 
ruption, the  mode  of  its  transmission,  the  means  of  its  re- 
mission, and  how  far  the  blessed  Virgin  was  involved  in  it, 
were  all  found  to  be  very  unmanageable  questions.  In  the 
end,  a  decree  was  passed  in  the  fifth  session,  consisting  of 
five  articles  ;  the  last  of  which  anathematized  all  who  should 
deny  "  that  the  guilt  of  sin  is  removed  by  the  grace  which 
Jesus  Christ  confers  in  baptism,  and  all  which  is  sinful  en- 
tirely taken  away." 

The  next  article  was  the  capital  one  of  justification. 
On  this  the  discussions  were  rendered  very  complicated,  by 
being  made  to  involve  not  only  the  nature  and  means  of  jus- 
tification, the  nature  of  faith,  and  the  quality  of  works  an- 
tecedent, concomitant,  and  subsequent,  but  also  the  ques- 
tions of  assurance,  free-will,  and  predestination.  The 
subject  was  felt,  both  by  the  divines  and  the  fathers,  to  be 
singularly  important,  as  "  all  the  errors  of  Luther  resolved 

*  Bossuet,  C.  Butler,  &c.  &c.  t  See  p.  173, 174, 


COUNCIL    OF    TRENT»  329 

themselves  into  it ;  and,  withal,  singularly  difficult,  since" 
(unlike  the  question  of  original  sin)  "justification  by  faith 
only  was  a  thing  never  heard  of  before  ;"  and  Luther's  doc- 
trine relative  to  every  part  of  it  such  as  had  "never  been 
thought  of  by  any  school-writer,  and  therefore  never  con- 
futed or  discussed  !"*  ^ 

Melancthon  once  affirms  that  the  reformers  had  gained  \l 
more  ground  upon  their  opponents  on  this  head  of  justifica-  "* 
tion  than  on  any  other.  Accordingly  the  two  parties  were 
actually  able,  in  the  conferences  at  Ratisbon,  in  1541, 
to  frame  an  article  upon  it  in  which  they  could  both  con- 
cur ;  and  which,  though  not  satisfactory,  was  one  that,  if 
rightly  interpreted,  Luther  seemed  to  think  might  be  al- 
lowed to  pass,  provided  other  points  could  be  arranged. 
Accordingly  we  are  surprised  and  gratified  to  find  some 
leading  characters  openly  asserting  in  the  council  the  fo- 
rensic sense  of  the  term,  or  that  justiiication  stands  con- 
tradistinguished to  condemnation,  not  to  unholiness,  and 
consists  in  being  pronounced  entitled  to  the  rewards  of 
righteousness  ;  in  short,  that  it  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  sanctification.  Even  the  imputation  of  Christ's 
righteousness  to  us  wanted  not  its  advocates.  But,  as  F. 
Paul  with  admirable  sagacity  remarks,  "  The  principal 
point  of  the  difficulty  they  touched  not,  namely,  whether 

A  MAN  IS  RIGHTEOUS  (JUSTIFIED),  AND  THEN  DOETH  RIGHT- 
EOUSLY,   OR    BY    DOING  RIGHTEOUSLY  BECOMETH  RIGHTEOUS 

or  JUSTIFIED.!  This  profound  author  here  places  his  finger 
on  the  precise  point  at  issue — the  ver}'  core  of  the  question. 
No  one  means  "  to  exclude  either  hope  or  charity  from 
being  always  joined  as  inseparable  mates  with  faith  in  the 
man  that  is  justified,  or  works  being  added  as  necessary 
duties,  required  at  the  hands  of  every  justified  man  :"i  but 
the  question  is.  Do  they  go  before  and  procure  his  justifica- 
tion, or  do  they  "  follow  after,"  and  prove  him  justified? 
And  on  this  question  our  church  has,  in  her  xith  and  xiith 
Articles,  pronounced  her  decidedand  unequivocal  judgment. 
The  question  of  assurance  of  salvation,  or  at  least  of 
present  acceptance  with  God,  occasioned  long  and  sharp 
debates.  It  was  at  first  maintained  "  that  uncertainty  was 
both  profitable  snxl  meritorious,"  as  conducing  to  humility 

*  F.  Paul.  t  See  vol.  i.  p.  33.  %  Hooker. 

E  62 


1/ 


330  COUNCIL    OF   TRENT. 

and  diligence.  By  degrees  so  much  certainty  seemed  to  be 
admitted  "  as  did  exclude  all  doubt  :"  the  argument,  how- 
ever, that  this  conclusion  was  "  too  much  in  favour  of  the 
Lutherans,"  had  great  weight  against  it,  and  the  question 
was  left  undecided  for  the  present.* 

On  the  subject  of  free-will,  as  well  as  that  of  predestina- 
tion, many  would  be  surprised  at  the  degree  of  what  in 
modern  language  would  be  called  Calvinism,  which  was 
found  in  the  council.  Catharinus,  a  leading  Dominican, 
contended  "  that  the  article,  '  Free-will  extends  only  to  do- 
ing ill,  and  hath  no  power  to  do  good,'  was  not  so  easily  to 
be  condemned."  Soto,  another  Dominican,  defended  with 
much  hesitation  the  opinion  that  the  consent  of  man's  free- 
will is  necessary  to  give  efficiency  to  Divine  grace,  "  because 
there  was  opposed  to  it  this  argument,  that  the  distinction 
of  the  elect  from  the  reprobate  would  in  that  case  proceed 
from  man,  contrary  to  the  perpetual  Catholic  sense — which 
is,  that  it  is  grace  alone  which  separates  the  vessels  of  mercy 
from  the  vessels  of  wrath."  Others  "  wished  care  to  be 
taken,  lest,  through  too  great  eagerness  to  condemn  Luther, 
they  should  run  into  a  contrary  extreme — that  objection 
being  esteemed  above  all,  that  hy  this  means  the  Divine  elec- 
tion or  predestination  would  be  for  works  foreseen — xohich  no 
divine  did  adraity  Nay,  "  though  the  opinions  were  divers," 
yet  '*  the  most  esteemed  divines  among  them  thought"  that 
even  the  high  supralapsarian  doctrine — making  rejection  to 
be,  equally  with  election,  independent  of  works  foreseen — 
"  was  Catholic,  and  the  contrary  heretical,  because  the  good 
school-writers  Aquinas,  Scotus,  and  others  did  so  think  ;" 
and  also  because  of  Scriptural  passages  which  they  cited  If 

These  discussions  were  frequently  marked  by  much  ani- 
mosity. In  particular  we  blush  to  record  the  disgraceful 
violence  into  which  the  Bishop  of  Cava  was  betrayed.  He 
was  so  incensed  at  a  remark  of  the  Bishop  of  Chiron,  that 
he  actually  took  his  right  reverend  brother  by  the  beard, 
and  tore  out  some  of  the  hair ! 

At  length,  in  the  sixth  session,  the  decree  of  the  council  was 
prwiulgated,  consisting  of  sixteen  articles,  followed  by  thirty- 
three  canons  ;  the  former  laying  down  the  approved  doctrine, 
and  the  latter  anathematizing  the  errors  opposed  to  it.    This 

*F.  i'aiil.  t  Ibid. 


COUNCIL    OF    TRENT.  331 

decree  was  said  to  have  "  decided  more  articles  in  one  ses- 
sion than  all  the  councils  held  in  the  church  from  the  apos- 
tles' time  had  done."*  The  seventh  article  of  the  decree 
asserts  the  great  error  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning 
justification,  which,  by  confounding  it  with  sanctification, 
makes  it  in  effect  to  be,  however  it  may  be  disguised,  of 
works  and  not  of  grace — for  our  own  internal  hohness,  and 
not  for  the  obedience  unto  death  of  Christ  alone.  Justifica- 
tion, it  says,  is  "  not  only  remission  of  sins,  but  sanctifica- 
tion, and  a  renovation  of  the  inner  man,  by  a  voluntary  re- 
ception of  grace  and  of  the  gifts  which  accompany  it." 
The  tenth  article  accordingly  speaks  of"  the  increase  of  the 
justification  we  have  received,  by  advancing  from  virtue  to 
virtue." 

Immediately  after  this  session,  Soto  the  Dominican  wrote 
three  books  on  Nature  and  Grace,  which  he  dedicated  to  the 
council,  to  be,  as  he  said,  "  a  commentary"  on  its  decrees 
concerning  original  sin.  justification,  and  the  subjects  con- 
nected with  these — findmg  in  the  decrees  all  his  own  opin- 
ions. This  called  forth  from  Vega,  the  Franciscan,  fifteen 
large  books  on  the  same  subject,  in  which  the  several  ar- 
ticles of  the  decrees  were  expounded  so  as  to  confirm  all  his 
sentiments — "  differing  from  those  of  Soto  in  almost  all 
points,  and  in  many  directly  contrary  to  them  !"  Nor  was 
this  all ;  but  Soto,  having  in  his  book  asserted,  with  respect 
to  assurance,  that  the  council  had  denied  the  possibility  of 
any  man's  knowing,  with  such  certainty  as  to  exclude  all 
doubt,  that  he  is  possessed  of  grace  ;  Catharinus,  now  made 
Bishop  of  Minori,  wrote  against  him,  maintaining  the  very 
contrary,  and  that  the  council  had  in  effect  declared  it  a 
,  duty  to  have  such  certainty  !  He,  too,  dedicated  his  work 
to  the  sacred  assembly  itself.  Several  publications  followed 
from  the  two  parties,  each  of  which  appealed  to  the  coun- 
cil, and  adduced  the  testimonies  of  different  members  of 
that  body  in  its  own  favour.  This  put  men  out  of  all 
hope  of  understanding  the  council,  when  it  appeared  that  it 
did  not  understand  itself.  It  moreover  raised  the  question 
of  the  infallibility  of  that  assembly.  "  Perhaps,"  says  F. 
Paul,  "  he  would  hit  upon  the  truth  who  should  say,  that  in 
framing  the  decree,  each  party  refused  words  contrary  to 

*  F.  Paul. 


332  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

the  opinion  they  maintained,  and  all  rested  in.  those  which 
they  thought  might  be  adapted  to  their  own  meaning." — 
This  is  certainly  giving  to  the  council  all  that  can  be  allowed 
to  belong  to  it — "  unity  of  words  and  contrariety  of  mean- 
ings." 

The  subject  of  the  sacraments  generally,  and  of  baptism 
and  confirmation  in  particular,  was  proposed  for  the  next 
session.  Here  again  extended  discussions  took  place,  and 
the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  contended  so  fiercely  about 
the  manner  in  which  the  sacraments  contain  and  convey 
grace,  that  the  legates  were  under  the  necessity  of  apply- 
ing both  to  the  generals  of  those  orders  and  to  the  pope, 
to  admonish  them  to  restrain  themselves  within  more  decent 
boundaries,  as  their  dissensions  brought  the  council  into 
disrepute. 

It  was  found  so  difficult,  or  rather  so  impracticable,  to 
define  the  doctrine  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  infringe  the 
sentiment  of  one  party  or  the  other,  that,  by  the  advice  of 
the  pope,  the  design  was  abandoned,  and  the  council  con- 
tented itself  with  passing  canons  to  anathematize  certain 
errors,  without  defining  the  truth  at  all. 

Accordingly,  in  the  seventh  session,  all  were  anathematized 
who  should  say,  among  other  things,  that  the  sacraments 
were  more  or  fewer  in  number  than  seven  ;  or  should  deny 
that  the  sacraments  of  baptism,  confirmation,  and  orders 
imprint  on  the  soul  a  chararlcr,  or  spiritual  and  indelible 
mark  ;  or  that,  in  administering  the  sacraments,  the  minis- 
ter's intention  to  do  what  the  church  intends,  is  necessar3\ 
The  subject  of  "  the  character"  imprinted  by  baptism,  con- 
firmation, and  orders  was  scarcely  less  perplexing  than  that 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  sacraments  contain  grace. 
Such  refinements  were  resorted  to,  that  F.  Paul  observes,  it 
certainly  behooved  the  respective  asserters  of  them  "  to  de- 
clare how  far  it  (the  imprinted  character)  differed  from 
notJmig.^^ 

The  absurdities  which  follow  from  requiring  the  right 
intention  of  the  priest  as  necessary  to  the  validity  of  a 
sacrament,  especially  among  those  who  make  so  much  to 
depend  exclusively  on  sacraments,  were  pointed  out  by 
Catharinus  with  such  force  and  clearness,  that  it  seems 
wonderful  how  the  council  couM  resist  his  arguments  :  nay, 
he  himself  afterward  affirmed  in  a  work  which  he  published, 


COUNCIL   OF  TRENT.  333 

that  the  fathers  were  of  his  opinion,  and  that  their  deter- 
mination ought  so  to  be  understood  !  "  Children,"  he 
urged,  "  must  be  damned,  penitents  remain  unabsolved,  the 
people  without  the  communion,  if  a  priest  were  an  infidel, 
or  a  formal  hypocrite,  and  in  administering  sacraments  did 
not  intend  what  the  church  did."  He  added,  "  If  any  said 
these  cases  were  rare,  would  to  God  they  were  so !  Sup- 
pose," he  said,  "  there  were  only  one  such  priest,  and  that 
he  baptized  only  one  child  without  the  intention  to  convey 
true  baptism  ;  that  child,  when  grown  up,  might  become 
the  bishop  of  a  great  city,  live  many  years  in  his  charge, 
and  ordain  most  of  the  priests  within  its  limits.  Yet  he, 
being  himself  unbaptized,  is  not  ordained,  nor  are  they  or- 
dained that  are  promoted  by  him.  And  thus,  in  that  great 
city,  there  will  be  neither  eucharist  nor  confession  !  Be- 
hold millions  of  nullities  of  sacraments  by  the  malice  of  one 
minister  in  one  act  only  !"  The  council,  however,  could 
not  dissent  from  the  previous  decision  of  the  council  of 
Florence,  which  had  held  the  intention  necessary. 

A  very  seasonable  interruption  of  the  council,  of  four 
years'  continuance,  now  occurred,  and  nothing  of  con- 
sequence took  place  till  the  thirteenth  session,  v/hen  the 
doctrine  of  the  church  concerning  the  eucharist  was  laid 
down  in  a  decree  which  established  all  the  absurdities  of 
transubstantiation;  asserted  that,  "whereas  other  sacraments 
have  virtue  to  sanctify  in  the  use  of  them,  this  doth  contain 
the  Author  of  all  sanctity  before  the  use  ;"*  and  ordained 
that  "  all  the  faithful,  according  to  the  custom  which  has 
ever  been  received  in  the  Catholic  church,  are  obliged  to  pay 
to  the  holy  sacrament  the  worship  called  lalreia,  ^hich  is 
due  to  the  true  God."  Eleven  canons  followed,  anathema- 
tizing all  who  should  dissent  from  any  part  of  the  doctrine 
thus  established. 

The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  contended  fiercely  on 
the  question  how  the  transubstantiation  is  efiTected.  The 
former  would  not  allow  that  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  come  into  the  sacrament  "  by  a  change  of  place." 

♦  Hence  the  Protestants  were  charged  with  "  giving  the  people  the 
creature  instead  of  the  Creator'' in  the  sacrament!  And  hence  the  ne- 
cessity which  many  felt  of  "  seeing  their  Malcer,  as  the  phrase  commonly 
went,''  in  the  course  of  the  day,  before  they  could  lie  down  in  peace  in 
their  beds  at  night  1— Soames's  Eng.  Reform,  i.  346. 


334  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

"  The  body,"  they  said,  "  was  where  the  bread  had  been, 
but  without  coming  thither."  The  latter  further  asserted, 
"  That  the  manner  of  Christ's  being  in  heaven,  and  in  the 
sacrament,  dilfereth  not  in  substance,  but  in  quantity,  or 
extension .  in  heaven  his  body  occupies  the  space  which 
naturally  belongs  to  it ;  in  the  sacrament  it  is  substantially, 
without  possessing  any  place  !" 

The  subject  of  the  sacraments  of  penance  and  extreme 
unction  next  followed  :  and  anathemas  were  decreed,  in  the 
fourteenth  session,  against  all  such  as  should  hold  that 
penance  and  extreme  unction  are  not  "  truly  and  properly 
sacraments  ;"  that  satisfaction  is  not  made  by  sufferings 
voluntarily  and  submissively  borne  ;  or  that  all  are  not  bound 
to  confess  at  least  once  a  year. 

The  dispersion  of  the  council,  in  consequence  of  the 
alarming  progress  of  Maurice  of  Saxony  in  the  year  1552, 
soon  after  took  place  ;  and  the  fathers  did  not  reassemble 
till  1562,  under  Pius  IV.,  who  had  succeeded  Paul  IV.  in 
1559.  And  here  by  the  adroit  insertion  of  the  words  j9ro- 
fonentihus  legatis  in  the  decree  for  opening  the  council,  the 
right  of  proposing  any  measure  in  the  assembly  was  limited 
to  the  presidents  appointed  by  the  pope  ;  which  afterward 
occasioned  great  altercation.  The  pope,  however,  insisted 
upon  the  restriction  being  rigidly  adhered  to. 

Much  discussion  ensued  concerning  the  prohibition  of 
heretical  books.  The  Index  in  consequence  published  in- 
cluded the  Annotations  of  Erasmus  on  the  New  Testament 
(which  Leo  X.  had  approved  by  a  brief  in  1518)  ;  and  went 
so  far  as  to  proscribe  all  books,  "  of  what  author,  art,  or 
idiom  soever,"  printed  by  sixty-two  printers  who  were  named, 
or  by  any  others  who  ever  had  printed  the  books  of  heretics  ; 
"  so  that  there  scarcely  remained,"  says  F.  Paul,  "  a  book 
to  be  read." — "  In  a  word,"  he  adds,  "  a  better  device  was 
never  found  for  stultifying  men,  under  the  pretence  of 
making  them  religious." 

The  question  of  residence,  and  with  it  that  of  the  Divine 
or  merely  human  right  of  all  other  prelates  beside  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  was  now  revived  ;  and  it  continued  to  perplex  the 
pope  and  his  adherents  till  near  the  close  of  the  council. 
"  The  mutual  distastes  between  those  at  Rome  and  those 
at  Trent,"  says  F.  Paul,  "  were  increased  on  the  arrival  of 
every  courier.     At  Trent  the  favourers  of  residence  be- 


COUNCIL    OF    TRENT.  335 

wailed  the  miseries  of  the  church,  the  servitude  of  the  coun- 
cil, and  the  manifest  hopelessness  of  seeing  the  reformation 
proceed  from  Rome.  The  opposite  party  lamented  that  a 
schism  was  plotted  in  the  council,  or  rather  an  a'postacy  from 
the  apostolic  sec." 

In  the  twenty-first  session  the  subject  of  the  eucharist 
was  resumed,  chiefly  with  regard  to  some  points  which  had 
not  been-decided  in  the  thirteenth.  A  main  point  was  the 
granting,  or  still  withholding  of  the  cup  from  the  laity.  In 
discussing  the  question  the  most  absurd  arguments  were 
produced  and  reproduced  even  to  satiety  :  as,  for  example, 
the  instance  of  St.  Paul's  blessing  the  bread  only  on  ship- 
board ;  the  manna  given  to  the  Israelites,  unaccompanied  by 
any  liquid  ;  and  Jonathan's  extraordinary  refreshment  by 
eating  honey  alone,  and  not  drinking  with  it !  Payva,  a 
Portuguese  divine,  maintained  very  seriously  "  that  Christ, 
both  by  precept  and  example,  declared  the  bread  to  be  due 
to  all,  and  the  cup  to  priests  only  ;  for,  having  consecrated 
the  bread,  he  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  who  were  then  mere 
laics  ;  but  having  ordained  them  priests  by  the  words,  '  Do 
this  in  remembrance  of  me,'  he  then  consecrated  the  cup 
and  gave  it  them  likewise  !"•  In  the  end  it  was  decreed, 
that  communion  in  both  kinds  is  not  necessary  ;  and  ana- 
themas were  added  against  all  who  should  hold  a  contrary 
opinion. 

The  twenty-second  session  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  the 
mass,  declaring  that  Christ,  "  because  his  sacrifice  was  not 
to  end  with  his  death,  in  order  that  he  might  leave  to  his 
church  such  a  visible  sacrifice  as  the  nature  of  man  requires, 
....  gave  himself  to  be  sacrificed  in  the  church  by  priests 
under  visible  signs  ;  and  that  this  sacrifice  is  truly  propitia- 
tory." Anathemas  were  also  promulgated  against  all  who 
should  maintain  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is  "  only  one 
of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  not  propitiatory  ;"  or  that 
it  is  "  profitable  only  to  him  that  receives  it,  and  ought  not 
to  be  offered  for  the  living  and  the  dead  :"  or  who  should 
deny  that  in  the  words.  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me, 
Jesus  Christ  did  ordain  the  apostles  priests,  and  com- 
mand that  they  and  other  priests  should  offer  his  body  and 
blood  ! 

The  subject  of  the  next  session  w^as  the  sacrament  of 
orders,  with  the  ditierent  ranks  of  ministers,  and  their  re- 


336  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

spective  powers.  The  great  point  of  debate  still  was  whe- 
ther the  bishops  derived  their  powers  from  Divine  institution 
or  only  from  the  pope.  Laines,  general  of  the  order  of  Je- 
suits, maintained  that  jurisdiction  in  the  church  belonged 
solely  and  exclusively  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome ;  and  that 
Peter  alone  was  ordained  by  Christ,  and  all  the  other  apos- 
tles by  him — or,  if  by  Christ  himself,  yet  by  him  only  as 
"  doinff,  for  that  one  time,  what  belonged  to  Peter,"  and 
what  for  all  future  time  he  himself  had  exclusively  com- 
mitted to  him.  All  authority,  he  insisted,  is  derived  from 
the  pope,  and  he  is  himself  above  that  which  is  derived  from 
him.  "  He  giveth,"  Laines  proceeded,  "  all  their  force  to 
the  decrees  of  a  council ;  and  that  to  which  he  thus  giveth 
force,  and  that  only,  is  decreed  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  He 
asserted  further,  "  that  the  pope  had  power  to  dispense  all 
laws,  of  what  kind  soever — the  tribunal  of  the  principal  and 
that  of  the  vicegerent  being  the  same  :"  and  that  "  to  teach 
men  to  prefer  their  own  conscience  before  the  authority  of 
the  church,  is  to  plunge  them  into  a  bottomless  pit  of  dan- 
gers." 

The  council  was  from  time  to  time  harassed  by  fierce 
contentions  between  different  parties  concerning  the  right 
of  precedence.  At  the  present  period  such  a  dispute  arose 
between  the  French  and  Spanish  ambassadors,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  device  to  which  the  pope  had  had  recourse  for 
putting  them  on  a  par  at  the  celebration  of  mass,  when  he 
could  not  decide  between  them  their  claims  of  priority,  as 
disturbed  the  congregation  during  the  whole  time  of  the 
service,  and  interrupted  the  solemnities  in  the  most  indecent 
manner  :  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  brother  to  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  on  the  part  of  the  French,  protested  that  if  the 
like  attempt  were  made  again,  he  would  himself  mount  the 
pulpit,  with  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  and  having  proclaimed, 
"  He  that  desires  the  welfare  of  Christendom,  let  him  follow 
me  !"  would  quit  the  church,  hoping  to  be  followed  by  every 
one  present.  Nay,  the  French  were  prepared  on  this  oc- 
casion to  protest  against  Pius  IV.  as  not  rightful  pope,  and 
against  the  decrees  which  had  passed,  "  as  made  at  Rome, 
and  not  at  Trent,  and  as  being  the  decrees  of  Pius,  and  not 
of  the  council." 

At  length,  in  the  twenty-third  session,  the  decrees  and 


COUNCIL  OF    TRENT.  337 

canons  concerning  orders  were  published.  The  question  of 
the  Divine  or  the  derived  right  of  bishops  was  evaded  :  and, 
on  the  other  disputed  subject  of  residence,  the  council,  after 
ten  months'  deliberation  and  debate,  and  after  sending 
various  embassies  and  despatches  to  the  pope  and  all  the 
leading  princes  of  Europe,  came  to  the  momentous  decision, 
*'  That  not  to  reside  is  sinful,  where  there  is  not  a  lawful 
cause  to  the  contrary  !" 

The  subject  of  the  twenty-fourth  session  was  marriage, 
which  was  declared  to  be  "  a  true  and  proper  sacrament ;" 
and  that  "  churchmen  in  holy  orders,  or  regulars  who  have 
professed  chastity,"  may  not  contract  marriage,  and  that,  if 
they  do,  their  marriage  is  void.  Anathemas  were  pro- 
nounced against  such  as  should  deny  these  positions.  F. 
Paul's  statement  of  the  policy  of  prohibiting  marriage  to  the 
clergy  is  clear  and  good.  "It  is  plain,"  he  says,  "that 
married  priests  will  turn  their  affections  and  love  to  their 
wives  and  children,  and  by  consequence  to  their  house  and 
country :  so  that  the  strict  dependence  of  the  clergy  on  the 
apostolic  see  would  cease.  Thus  granting  marriage  to 
priests  would  destroy  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  and  leave  * 
the  pope  Bishop  of  Rome  only."  -,,  \^ 

The  twenty- fifth  session  had  been  fixed  for  the  9th  of 
December :  but  for  some  time  past  the  leading  princes  of 
Christendom,  convinced  that  no  good  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  council,  had  forborne  to  press  their  several  objects  ; 
allowed  their  prelates  and  divines  to  withdraw  ;  and  seemed 
intent  only  on  bringing  the  assembly  to  an  end  as  decently 
and  quietly  as  possible.  "  And  now,"  says  F.  Paul,  "  the 
one  only  aim  and  joint  resolution  was  to  precipitate  the  con- 
clusion." The  day  of  the  session  therefore  was  anticipated  : 
and,  on  December  the  3d  and  4th,  decrees  were  published 
on  purgatory,  the  invocation  and  worship  of  saints,  images, 
and  relics ;  on  indulgences,  and  prohibited  books  ;  as  also 
concerning  various  subjects  of  reformation ;  and  finally  for 
terminating  the  council,  and  desiring  the  pope's  confirma- 
tion of  its  decisions. 

When  these  decrees  had  been  read,  Cardinal  Morone,  as 
chief  president,  granted  to  every  one  that  was  present  in 
the  session,  or  had  assisted  in  the  council,  a  plenary  indul- 
gence ;  blessed  the  council  and  dismissed  it ;  saying,  that, 
after  they  had  given  thanks  to  God,  they  might  go  in  peace. 

Vol.  II.— F  f 


338  COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

"  It  is  incredible,"  says  Pallavicini,  "how  much  the  news 
of  the  conclusion  of  the  council  revived  the  pope  in  the  sick- 
ness" under  which  he  at  this  time  laboured,  and  from 
apprehension  of  the  consequences  of  which  the  fathers  had 
been  more  anxious  to  bring  their  deliberations  to  a  close : 
"so  that  his  holiness  would  not  have  been  without  an  ill- 
ness which,"  by  expediting  this  happy  event,  "  had  been  so 
useful  to  the  church.  ...  He  therefore  ordered  a  solemn  pro- 
cession to  be  made  the  next  day  to  give  thanks  to  God,  and 
granted  indulgences  to  all  who  should  assist  in  it." 

I  close  this  account  with  an  extract  of  a  letter  written  by 
Dudithius,  Bishop  of  Tinia,  or  Knin,  in  Croatia,  and  after- 
ward of  Five-Churches,  in  Hungary,  to  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  H.  Dudithius  is  styled  by  Du  Pin  "  one  of 
the  most  learned  and  eloquent  men  of  the  age."  He  was 
sent,  with  another  prelate,  to  represent  the  clergy  of  Hun- 
gary in  the  council ;  where  his  boldness  and  eloquence  made 
him  so  much  feared  by  the  legates,  that  they  successfully 
urged  on  the  pope  the  necessity  of  procuring  his  recall. 

"  What  good,"  he  says,  "  could  be  done  in  a  council  in 
which  the  votes  were  not  weighed  but  numbered.  .  .  .We 
daily  saw  hungry  and  needy  bishops  come  to  Trent,  for  the 
most  part  youths  which  did  not  begin  to  have  beards,  aban- 
doned to  luxury  and  riot,  hired  only  to  give  their  votes  as 
the  pope  pleased.  They  were  without  learning  or  under- 
standing, yet  fit  for  the  purpose,  through  their  boldness  and 
impudence.  .  .  .There  was  a  grave  and  learned  man  who  was 
not  able  to  endure  so  great  an  indignity.  'He  was  presently 
traduced  as  being  no  good  Catholic,  and  was  terrified, 
threatened,  and  persecuted,  that  he  might  approve  things 
against  his  will.  In  fine,  matters  were  brought  to  that  pass, 
by  the  iniquity  of  those  who  came  thither  formed  and  trained 
for  their  work,  that  the  council  seemed  to  consist  not  of 
bishops,  but  of  disguised  maskers  :  not  of  men,  but  of  images, 
such  as  Dasdalus  made  that  moved  by  nerves  which  were 
none  of  their  own.  They  were  hireling  bishops,  who,  as 
country  bagpipes,  could  not  speak  but  as  breath  was  put 
into  them.  The  Holy  Ghost  had  nothing  to  do  in  this- 
assembly." 


INDEX. 


The  Initials  L.  ay\d  J/,  are  used  for  Luther  and  Melancthon. 


Adiaphoristic  controversy,  ii.  242, 
271.     M.'s  letter  on,  248. 

Adrian  VI.,  Pope,  i.  1T9. 

Spinas,  ii.  308. 

Afflictions,  M.  on,  ii.  291. 

Agricola,  Islebius,  account  of,  ii. 
126,  &c.,  231. 

Albert  of  Mansfeldt,  i.  263,  ii.  183. 
Of  Brandenburg,  i.  209.  An- 
other, 263. 

Aleander,  i.  102,  103,  119,  139,  212. 

Alliance,  Holj-,  ii.  72. 

Altieri,  his  correspondence  with 
L.,  ii.  120.  J 

Amsdorf,  ii.  115,  277,  311.  ♦ 

Anabaptists,  i.  330.  Of  Munstei^ 
ii.  67. 

Anhalt,  Princes  of,  ii.  51.  George 
of,  154,  &c.,  308.  Letter  of  L. 
to,  ii.  210. 

Antinomianism,  L.'s  opposition  to, 
ii.  125,  &c. 

Apology  for  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  ii.  34. 

Aristotle,  his  philosophy,  i.  19. 

Assurance,  council  of  Trent  on,  ii. 
329. 

Atterbury,  Bishop,  on  L.,  ii.  200. 

Augsburg,  first  diet  of,  i.  286,  289. 
Second  diet  of,  351,  ii.  9,  &c. 
Edict  of,  37.  Bishop  of,  16.  Re- 
formation of,  65. 

Augustine  and  Jerome,  i.  33. 

Aurifaber,  ii.  311. 

Austria,  Bpread  of  reformed  princi- 
ples in,  ii.  52,  65,  118,267. 

Bavaria,  spread  of  reformed  prin- 
ciples in,  ii.  268. 


Bible,  L.'s  first  acquaintance  with, 
1.-29.  His  translation  of,  i.  147, 
170,  ii.  216. 

Blasphemous  thoughts,  L.  on,  ii. 
128,  203. 

Bossuet,  il.  44. 

Brandenburg,  George  Marqnis  of, 
i.  206,  ii.  11.  Albert  Marquis  of, 
i.  209.  Another,  263.  Joachim 
\.  of,  340.  Joachim  II.  of,  ii.  51, 
99,  102,  233.     Reformation  of,  98. 

Brentius,  ii.  270-311.  Letter  of  L. 
to,  213. 

Breslaw,  treaty  of,  i.  328,  329. 

Briconet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  i.  207. 

Brisman,  .John,  i.  210. 

Brunswick- Wolfenbuttle,  reforma- 
tion of,  ii.  135.     Henry  of,  9, 135. 

Bucer,  ii.  36.  His  preaching,  79 
At  Cologne,  143.  Rejects  the 
Interim,  231,  232.  Withdraws 
into  England,  236.  His  death, 
308. 

Bugenhagen.  i.  161,  177,  ii.  64. 
Refuses  the  bishopric  of  Camin, 
165.     His  death,  310. 

Cadurcus,  martyr,  ii.  50. 

Caesar,  L.,  martyr,  i.  313,  ii.  31. 

Cajetan,  Cardinal,  i.  49-56. 

Calvin,  ii.  52.  His  mistaken  cen- 
sure of  M.,  243.  On  M.'s  Com- 
monplaces, 302,  303. 

Calvinism  of  the  council  of  Trent 
ii.  330. 

Campeggio,  i.  192,  197,  352,  ii.  10. 

Canonries,  L.  opposes  their  sup- 
pression, ii.  115. 

Capiio,  i.  274. 


340 


INDEX. 


Carolstadt,  at  the  disputation  of 
Leipzig,  i.  70.  His  disorderly 
spirit,  152,  155,  215.  L.  on  his 
errors,  168.  On  the  Eucharist, 
215.  Retired  to  Switzerland, 
219. 

Catharinus,  ii.  331. 

Cellius,  of  Strasburg,  i.- 142. 

Character  imprinted  in  sacra- 
ments, ii.  332. 

Charles  V.,  emperor,  i.  112,  113. 
His  quarrel  with  Clement  VIL, 
343.  His  devotions  at  Augsburg, 
ii.  12.  His  arbitrary  proceed- 
ings, 23,  33.  His  campaign 
against  the  Turks,  46.     His  du- 

•  plicity,  172,  177.  His  tyranny, 
222,  224,  229,  234,  239.  Circum- 
vented by  Maurice  of  Saxony, 
255.  His  abdication  and  death, 
261,  262. 

Cheregato,  i.  179,  ii.  9. 

Christiern  II.,  of  Denmark,  i.  199. 
HI.  201,  ii.  66. 

Church,  state  of,  i.  13-20.  Eras- 
mus on,  39.  Adrian  VI.  on,  179. 
Of  Rome,  333,  ii.  84,  204.  M. 
on,  269. 

Clement  VIL,  Pope,  i.  192.  His 
perfidy  and  hostility  to  Protest- 
antism. 290,  343,  352  His  quar- 
rel with  Charles  V.,  343,  &c. 

Cleves.  reformation  of,  ii.  62. 
Duke  of,  140. 

Cologne,  university  of,  i.  76,  85. 
Herman,  Archbishop  of,  ii.  142, 
147,  173. 

Concord,  Erasmus  on,  ii.  57.  Of 
Wittemburg,  79. 

Confederacies,  the  Elector.Frederic 
on.  ii.  88. 

Conferences  of  Ratisbon,  ii.  104, 
174. 

Confession,  abuses  of,  i.  143.  Of 
Augsburg,  ii.  13.  Refutation  of, 
22.  Apology  for,  34.  The  Te- 
trapolitan,  36. 

Controversies  among  the  Protest- 
ants, ii.  271,  277.  Reflections 
on,  278. 

Convention  of  Frankfort,  ii.  73. 

Corvinus,  of  Hesse,  ii.  60. 

Cranrner.  on  the  German  Protest- 
ants, ii!  238.     M's.  letters  to,  288. 

(Crosner,  Alexius,  i.  265. 


Cruciger,  ii.  306. 

Cup,  council  of  Trent  on  withhold- 
ing it  from  the  laity,  ii.  335. 

Denmark,  reformation  of,  i.  199,  ii. 
65.  Christiern  II.  King  of,  and 
his  queen,  i.  199.  Christiern  III., 
201,  ii.  66. 

Depravity,  total,  meaning  of,  i.  246. 

Diuz,  .luan,  account  of,  ii.  316. 

Diets,  held  on  the  reformation,  ii.  9. 

Difficulties  of  Scripture  and  provi- 
dence, L.  on,  i.  249,281. 

Discipline,  church,  ii.  106. 

Dudithius,  on  council  of  Trent,  ii 
338. 

Eber,  Paul,  ii.  311. 

Eckius,  i.  42,  69.  At  the  disputa- 
tion of  Leipzig,  70.  M.  on,  109, 
Another,  i.  132. 

Election,  L.  on,  ii.  91.  Council 
of  Trent  on,  330. 

Emser,  his  opposition  to  L.,  i.  170, 
173. 

England,  correspondence  of  the 
German  Protestants  with,  ii.  67. 

Enthusiasm,  i.  325. 

Erasmus,  on   justification,   i.   32. 

I   On  L.,  38,  48,  64,  94,  104,  &c. 

P  On    L.'s    marriage,    231.      His 

r  character  and  history,  233-236, 
254-259.     On  the  reformers,  237. 

•  His  controversy  with  L.,  239, 
254,  &c.  to  CEcolampadius,  256. 
His  letters  to  Augsburg,  ii.  37. 
His  work  on  Concord,  57.  His 
death,  60.  His  Colloquies  con- 
demned, 71.  On  M.,  285.  His 
Annotations  condemned,  334. 

Esch,  John,  i.  213. 

Evidences  of  grace,  L.  on,  ii.  53, 
86,  88. 

Evil,  oriciin  of,  inscrutable,  i.  249. 

Exhortations  of  Scripture,  i.  248. 

Extremes,  danger  of,  ii.  278. 

Faber,  Stapulensis,  i.  207,  212. 

Fagius,  Paul,  ii.  236,  308. 

Faith,  errors  respecting,  ii.  245, 
275.     Only,  M.  on,  243,  276. 

Farel,  William,  i.  207,  ii.  117. 

Ferdinand,  King;  his  hostility  to 
the  reformation,  i.  200.  His  oppo- 
sition to  it  in  Austria,  ii.  119, 268. 


INDEX. 


341 


Flacius,  ii.  242,  271,  276. 

Flanders,  persecutions  in,  i.  212. 

France,  progress  of  reformation  in, 
i.  207,  340,  ii.  50,  69. 

Francis  I.  of  France;  his  incon- 
sistent and  persecuting  conduct, 
ii.  68,  257. 

Frankfort,  reformation  of,  i.  275. 
Coiiveation  of,  ii.  73. 

Frecht,  Martin,  ii.  235,  309. 

Frederic,  the  elector,  his  conduct 
to  L.,  i.,24,  51.  Remarks  on 
him,  112,  ,166.  His  death,  226, 
and  character,  227.  Count  Pala- 
tine, ii.  13IB34. 

Free-will,  i.mO.  Erasmus's  con- 
troversy orff  243,  &c.  M.  on,  ii. 
305.     Council  of  Trent  on,  330. 

Funds,  ecclesiastical,  ii.  80,  81. 

Galatians,  L.  on,  i.  115-118,  ii.  89. 

George  of  Saxony,  hears  L.,  i.  34. 
His  suspicious  conduct,  190. 
Rejects  L.'s  overtures,  265.  His 
hostility  to  the  reformation,  274, 
294.  His  persecutions,  ii.  61. 
His  death,  93. 

Gerson,  his  testimony,  ii.  19. 

Gospel,  exposed  to  misapprehen- 
sion, i.  90.  Charges  against  it, 
146. 

Grace,  prevenient  an^d  assisting,  ii. 
20. 

Grievances,  the  Hundred,  i.  184. 

Grisonio,  inquisitor,  ii.  .314. 

Cropper,  his  book,  ii.  104.  At  Co- 
logne, 142,  145,  147,  149. 

Gustaviis  Vasa,  i.  202,  «fcc.,  ii.  116, 
&c. 

Halle,  reformation  of,  ii.  114. 

Hamburgh,  M.'s  letter  to,  ii.  248. 

Hausman,  Nic,  i.  151,  ii.  51,  291. 

Heidelberg,  i.  41. 

Heldingus,  ii.  162,  231. 

Heltus,  George,  ii.  155,  209. 

HenckeJl,  Joim,  i.  310.  .._. 

Henneberg,  Princes  of,  ii.  153,  &'<JF, 
219,  234. 

Henry  Vlll.  of  England;  his  an- 
swer to  L.,  i.  153.  Rejects  L.'s 
overtures,  263.  Letter  of  M.  to 
ii.  68. 

• Duke  of  Sa.xony,  i.  152,  ii, 

93,  &c. 


Henry  Duke  of  Brunswick,  i.  174. 

ii.  9,  135. 

Hesse,  reformation  of,  i.  301.  The 
Landgrave  of,  209,  273,  330.  Hia 
bigamy,  iL  110.  Surrenders  to 
Charles  V.,  223.  His  conduct 
in   and  after  captivity,  228. 

John,  i.  207,  276,  ii.  306. 

Hogostrat,  i.  48. 

Holstein,  reformation  of,  i.  201. 

Hubnieier,  Balthasar,  i.  332. 

Huglin,  martyr,  i.  312. 

Hume,  remarks  on,  i.  26,  96,  154. 

Hungary,  reformation  there,  i.  206. 

Hunting,  L.  on,  i.  148. 

Huttea,  Ulric,  i.  237. 

Idolatry  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  ii. 
205,  206. 

Incomprehensibility  of  the  Divine 
dispensations,  i.  249-251. 

Index,  of  the  council  of  Trent,  ii. 
334. 

liidifTerent  things,  controversy  con- 
cerning, ii.  241,  &c.,  271.  M.'s 
letter  on,  248. 

Indulgences,  doctrine  of,  i.  16-18, 
22.  Controversy  on,  20,  &c. 
Modern  sale  of,  23. 

Intention,  of  the  priest  in  a  sacra- 
ment, ii.  332. 

Interim,  the,  rejected  by  the  elector 
John  Frederic,  ii.  225,  226.  Es- 
tablished, 232.  Its  effect.'s,  237, 
251.  Conduct  of  Maurice  of 
Saxony  respecting  it,  233,  240. 
And  of  M.,  239,  &:c. 

Italy,  progress  of  reformed  princi- 
ples  in,  ii.  63,  303. 

Jerome  and  Augustine,  i.  33 ;  and 

Origen,  ii.  214. 
.lews,  L.  on  the,  ii.  206. 
Joachim  I.  of  Brandenburg,  i.  340. 

IL,  ii.  51,  98-102.  219,  232. 
John  Elector  of  Saxony,   i.   268. 

His  death,  ii.  49. 
John  Frederic,  i.  270,  ii.  50.    Taken 

prisoner  by  the    emperor,   222. 

His    conduct   in  captivity,   222. 

His  death,  228.     His  sons,  207, 

228,  281. 
.Jonas,  Justu.s,  ii.  182,  185, 186,  309. 
Jortin,  on  L.'s  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion, i.  253. 


342 


INDEX. 


Justification,  doctrine  of,  i.  17. 
L.'s  view  of,  31,  33,  54,  77,  253. 
Confession  of  Augsburg  on,  ii. 
18.  Regulation  of  Brandenburg 
on,  101.  M.  on,  243,  275.  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  on,  ii.  328. 

Koran,  the,  L.  on,  ii.  205. 

Laines,  Jesuit,  ii.  336. 

Lambert,  Francis,  i.  302. 

I/angi,  Cardinal,  ii.  16. 

Latomus,  James,  i.  145. 

Lauterwald,  his  doctrines,  ii.  273. 

Law,  fulfilling  it,  ii.  89.  Contin- 
ues in  force  as  a  rule,  90.  L.  on 
the  uses  of,  ii.  126,  127. 

Leipzig,  disputation  of,  i.  70-79. 
L.  preaches  there,  ii.  97. 

Leo  X.,  L.  on,  i.  46.  His  impru- 
dence, 48,  63,  100.  His  bull 
against  L.,  98. 

Lemkirk,  reformation  of,  ii.  179. 

Liberty,  Christian,  L.  on,  i.  89-91. 
M.  on,  ii.  24i7.  Religious,  estab- 
lished in  Germany,  ii.  257,  259, 
260. 

Light  of  nature,  of  grace,  and  of 
glory,  i.  250,  251. 

Louvain,  university  of,  i.  76,  85. 

Luther,  his  early  history,  i.  14.  24, 
27,  &.C.  On  justification  in  1516, 
31,  33.  At  Rome,  .W.  Sir  J. 
Mackintosh  on.  26.  33.  At  Dres- 
den, 34.  His  character,  35.-  S7. 
49.  His  faults,  35.  107.  318.  319. 
On  his  own  course,  45-47.  His 
conferences  with  Cajetan.  52-57. 
With  Miltitz,  65-67,  82, 86.  Dis- 
putation with  Eckius  at  Leipzig. 
71-78.  His  letter  to  Leo  X..  86- 
89.  His  tract  on  the  Babylo- 
tiish  captivity.  97.  Pope's  bulls 
against  him,  98,  111.  His  treat- 
ment of  them,  106-112.  On  Ga- 
latians,  115-1)8.  ii.  89.  At  the 
diet  of  Worms,  i.  127-138.  At 
Wartburg,  13S.  His  attention  to 
ecclesiastical  order,  150,  176. 
His  answer  to  Henry  VIII.,  153. 
His  attempts  to  pacify  him,  2(i0- 
203.  His  treatment  of  the  tana 
tical  prophets.  159, 168, 219.  His 
lettertothe  Elector  Frederic,  161, 
164.  His  judicious  preaching, 
Ff  2 


166,  ii.  266.  On  resistance  to  the 
emperor,  i.  191,  304,  329,  ii.  123. 
On  the  two  diets  of  Nuremberg, 
i.  186,  196.  His  conduct  in  the 
sacramental  controversy,  214, 
217,  ii.  207,  271.  His  tolerance, 
i.  221,  332,  &c.,  ii.  260.  On  the 
war  of  the  peasants,  i.  222.  His 
marriage,  230.  His  treatment 
of  Erasmus,  236,  237,  241,  251. 
His  controversy  with  him,  239, 
«fec.  His  overtures  to  Henry 
VIII.,  and  to  George  of  Saxony, 
261,  &c.  His  distinguishing  ex- 
cellence as  a  divMb,  279.  His 
regulation  of  the  Smon  churches, 
308,  327.  His  temptations,  315, 
&c.  On  predestination,  335,  «fec. 
At  the  conference  of  Marpurg, 
3.^8.  His  catechisms.  353.  On 
the  works  of  M.,  241,  353,  ii.  122, 
212.  His,  sentiments  and  em- 
ployments during  the  diet  of 
Aug.sburg.  ii.  15,  24,  &c.  His 
devotions,  33, 124, 200.  His  dan- 
gerous ilhiess,49.  His  interview 
witli  Vergerio,  74,  &c.  His  ill- 
ness and  i)rayer  at  Smalkald,  82, 
83.  His  alleged  conference  with 
Satan,  85.  Reference  to  him 
from  the  conference  of  Ratisbon, 
107.  His  vindication  of  the  re- 
formation, 125.  His  admonition 
to  JMaurice  and  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  132.  He  introduced  no 
novelties,  163.  False  story  of  his 
death,  180.  His  closing  emplov- 
ments,  182.  His  deathl  174,  182, 
<fec.  His  character,  189,  &;c. 
Unrestrained    in    his    writings, 

211.  On   his  own  works,  194, 

212,  213.  M.  on  his  writings, 
215.  Seckendorf  and  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  uii  the  same,  92.  His 
translation  of  the  Scriptures,  i. 
147,   170,  ii.    216.      His    Table 

k,216. 


kintosh.  Sir  James,  on  L.  i.  26, 

33,  225. 
Magdeburg,  treaty  of,  i.  295.    Siege 

of  ii.  252. 
INIajor,  George,  ii.  311. 
.Mansfeldt,  counts  of,  ii.  162. 
Malvenda,  ii.  175, 317. 


INDEX. 


343 


Marpurg,  conference  of,  i.  338. 
Marriage,  of  the  clergy,  i.  144,  161, 
187,  211.    Policy  of  prohibiting 
it,  ii.  337.    OfL.,  i.  230.    M.  on, 
ii.  289. 

Mary  of  Austria,  i.  309. 
Mass,  L.  on,  ii.  80.    Private,  i.  144, 
ii.85. 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  his  policy,  ii. 
131,  133,  219,  220.  Advanced  to 
the  electorate,  222.  His  conduct 
respecting  the  Interim,  233,  240. 
His  proceedings  against  the  em- 
peror, 253,  255.  His  successes; 
255.     His  death,  25'8. 

Mediation  'of  Christ,  whether  in 
his  human  nature  only,  ii.  278. 

Melancholy,  i.  325. 

Alelancihon,  on  L.,  i.  38.  Professor 
at  Wittemberg,  50,  290.  At  the 
disputation  of  Leipzig,  80,  81. 
Defends  L.,  92,  154.  His  char- 
acter, 149.  His  defence  of  the 
reformation,  287,  ii.  270.  His 
^disinterested  labours,  i.  311,  ii. 
130.  His  distress  at  the  diet 
of  Augsburg,  28.  At  Ratisbon, 
108.  His  illness.  111.  On  L., 
112.  At  Cologne,  144.  His  fit- 
ness as  a  coadjutor  to  L.,  196. 
His  conduct  with  respect  to  the 
Interim,  239,  &c.  On  things  in 
different,  241.  248,  &c.  On  faith 
only,  243.  276.  On  O.siander. 
273.  On  Lauterwald,  274.  His- 
tory of  his  latter  daj's.  280.  His 
death,  282.  His  character,  2S4. 
L.  and  Erasmus  on  him,  285. 
His  family,  particularly  his  eldest 
daughter,  295.  His  letters,  217, 
237,  248,  203-267,  269,  286-302. 
His  works,  302.  L.  and  Calvin 
on  them,  i.  241,  353,  ii.  122,  212, 
243.  302. 

Menius,  Justus,  ii.  310. 

Merindol,  massacre  of,  ii.  321,  322. 

Mensburg,  bishopric  of,  ii.  161,  &c. 

Melz,  reformation  suppressed  there, 
ii.  117. 

Meyer,  Sebastian,  i.  212. 

Miltitz,  his  conferences  with  L.,  i. 
65,  82,  86. 

Moderation,  wisdom  of,  ii.  278. 

Moses,  L.  ou  his  writings,  ii.  128, 
215. 


Mosheim,  misrepresents  M.,  ii.  242, 

&c. 
MuUer,  Henry,  i.  202. 
Munster,    Anabaptists    of,    ii.   67. 

Bishop  of,  his  reformation,  149. 
Munsterberg,  Daches.s  of,  i.  .340. 
Munzer,   the   fanatic,  i.   158,  219, 

226. 
IMuscnlus,  on  Erasmus,  ii.  59. 
Mvconius,    Fred.,  i.   152,  ii.   129. 

306. 

Navarre,  Margaret  of,  i.,  208.  212. 
Necessity,  L.  on,  i.  247.    M.  on, 

305. 
Nordlingen,  reformation  of,  ii.  65. 
Nuremberg,  diet  of,  i.  179-185,  192. 

Pacification  of,  ii.  45. 

CEcolampadius,  i.41.    Erasmus  to, 

256. 
Origen  and  Jerome,  ii.  214. 
Osiander,  i.  209,  ii.  J 24.  272. 
Otho  Henry,  Elector  Palatine,  ii. 

115. 

Palatinate  of  Bavaria,  reformation 
of,  ii.  115.  Of  the  Rhine,  178, 
269. 

Pallavicini  on  popes,  i.  181. 

Palls  of  archbishops,  ii.  136. 

Paris,  divines  of  i.  153. 

Passau,  treaty  of,  ii.  256. 

Patmos,  L.'s  i.  143,  <fcc. 

Paul  III.,  his  commission  for  refor- 
mation, ii.  70. 

Payva,  in  council  of  Trent,  ii.  335. 

Peace  of  religion,  ii.  259.  In  the 
church,  263. 

Peasants,  war  of,  i.  222. 

Pelagianism,  ob.servation  on,  i.  254. 

Persecution,  all  that  it  effects,  ii. 
t236.     By  Protestants,  84,  261. 

Petri,  Laurent,  and  Olaus,  i.  202. 

Peucer,  ii.  283,  295. 

Pfeffmger,  ii.  292. 

Pflug,  Julius,  ii.  115.231,281. 

Poland,  reformed  principles  in,  ii. 
268. 

Pontanus.  ii.  309,  310. 

Popery,  its  character,  ii.  83.  Im- 
mutabilitv.  85.  Its  idolatry,  205. 
M.  on,  270. 

Prayer,  M.  on,  ii.  264. 

Preaching,  M.  on,  ii.  265,  266. 


344 


INDEX. 


Predestination,  L.  on,  i.  335,  ii.  91. 

M.  on,  305.     Council  of  Trent 

on,  330. 
Prierias,  i.  42. 
Prophets,  fanatical,  1.  158, 168,  218, 

219. 
Protestants,  the  first,  i.  348.    Their 

discipline,  ii.  106. 
Prussia,  reformation  of,  i.  219. 

Ratisbon,  confederation  of,  i.  197. 
Conferences  and  diet  of,  ii.  104, 
174. 

Ravenstein,  on  L.,  i.  106. 

Reformation,  need  of,  i.  13-19. 
That  of  L  ,  14, 19.  M.'s  vindica- 
tion of,  287,  289,  ii.  270.  Its  doc- 
trine, i.  18.  Vindicated  from  the 
charge  of  corrupting  the  people, 
27.  51  125.  237,  238. 

Reformers,  our  obligations  to  them, 
ii.  203.  Notices  of  Lutheran, 
306,  &c. 

Reservation,  ecclesiastical,  ii.  260. 

Resistance  to  the  emperor,  L.  and 
others  on,  i.  191,  222,  «&c.,  328, 
329,  ii.  123.  I 

Righteousness  of  God,  L.'s  embar- 
rassment on,  i.  77. 

Robertson,  Dr..  remarks  on.  ii.  105, 
170.  His  character  of  L.,  189. 
Remarks  on  it,  192.  His  mis- 
representation of  M.,  242.  His 
charge  of  persecution  brought 
against  the  reformers,  261. 

Sabinusii.  296. 

Sacramental  controversy,  i.  214. 
282,  338.  ii.  270. 

Saints,  ii.  90. 

Samson,  vender  of  indulgences,  i. 
63. 

Satisfactions,  i.  16. 

Siivoy,  Duke  of  i.  208. 

Saxony,  reformation  of,  under  the 
Elector  John,  i.  268.  Visitation 
of,  327.  Religious  state  of,  ii.  27. 
Ducal,  reformation  of,  96. 

Scaliger,  J.  C,  ii.  52. 

Schaumburg,  i.  94. 

Schism,  M.'s  vindicaiion  of  the  re- 
formation from,  i.  287. 

Schnepfiiis,  ii.  310. 

Schwenckfeldt.  ii.  279. 

Scriptures,  L.'s  translation  of,  i. 


147,  170,  ii.  216.     Interpretation 

of,  i.  278,  ii.  265. 
Scurff,  Jerome,  i.  128,  163,  23L 
Seckendorf,  i.  14. 
Sellarius,  martyr,  i.  342. 
Senarcle,  Claude,  ii.  320.  ' 
Silesia,  reformation  of,  i.  206. 
Sin,  original,  council  of  Trent  on, 

ii.  328. 
Smalkald,    league    of,    ii.  42,  43. 

War  of,  217,  &c. 
Soto,  in  council  of  Trent,  ii.  331. 
Spain,  spread  of  reformed  principles 

in,  ii.  268. 
Spalatinus,  i.  32,  ii.  306. 
Spangenberg,  ii.  308. 
Sp'ra,  Francis,  account  of,  ii.  315. 
Spires,    proposed     meeting   there, 

i.  194,  195,     Convention  of,  198. 

F.rst  diet  of,  296-300.     Second, 

347,  &c.     Third,  ii.  137. 
Stancari,  ii.  277. 
Stanpitz,  i.  28,  43,  55,  57-60. 
Strasburg,  reformation   of,  i.  210, 

340.      Withstands  the  Interim, 

ii.  235. 
Stubner,  i.  158,  159,  168. 
Student,  L.'s  advice  to,  ii.  87. 
Sturmius,  ii.  308. 
Sweden,  reformation  of,  i.  202-206, 

ii.  116. 
Svnechdoche  of  the  monks,  ii.  275, 
'306. 

Tast,  Herman,  i.  201. 

Temptations.  L.'s,  i.  315,  &c. 

Tetzel,  i.  2-J,  40,  65,  67. 

Thammer,  ii.  279. 

Theses,  L.'s,  26.     Tetzel's,  40. 

Tlmrzo,  John,  i.  206. 

Tolerance.  L.'s,  i.  221,  322,  ii.  261. 

Established    in    Germany,   267, 

259. 
Tonstall,  Bishop,  i.  236. 
Transobstantiation,      council     of 

Trent  on,  ii.  333. 
Trent,  council  of,  ii.  134,  166.  169, 

173,  230,  254,  326-338.     Refused 

bv  the  Protestants,  167,  168. 
Turks,  the,  i.  305, 306,  ii.  129, 13,45. 

Ulric,  of  Wurtembnrg,  ii.  64. 

Vasa,  Gustavus,  i.  202-206,  ii.  116. 
&c. 


INDEX. 


345 


Vega,  in  council  of  Trent,  ii.  331. 

Veit,  Theodore,  ii.  33,  308. 

Venice,  reformed  principles  there, 
ii.  120. 

Vergerio,  P.  P.,  i.  352.  L.'s  inter- 
view with,  ii.  74,  &c.  Hi.s  con- 
version, &c.,  313,  Sec.  J.  B., 
313,  317. 

Voes,  Henry,  i.  213. 

Vows,  monastic,  L.  on,  i.  145. 

Waldenses,  L.  on  the,  ii.  89.    Mas- 
sacre of,  321,  &c. 
Wanburg,  i.  138. 
Will,  free,  council  of  Trent  on,  ii. 


Wittemberg,  university  of,  i.  24, 50, 

Changes   there,  271.      Concord 

of,  ii.  79. 
Women,  M.  on,  ii.  289. 
Works,  evidences  of  justification, 

ii.  53,  86,  88,  89.     Necessity  of, 

277. 
Worms,  diet  of,  i.  118.     Another, 

ii.   167.     L.   there,   i.   127,   &C. 

Conference  of,  ii.  281. 
Wurtemburg,   reformation    of,   ii. 

64. 

Zutphen,  Henry  of,  i.  202. 
Zwingle,    i.    63.      At    Marpurg, 
338. 


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MENTS, Ancient  and  Modern.  By  Horatio  Smith, 
Esq.  With  Additions.  By  Samuel  Woodworth,  Esq., 
of  New- York.     With  Engravings.     18mo. 

"  The  book  contains  a  mine  of  information  on  the  subjects  embraced 
in  its  title,  and  should  be  placed  in  every  family."— iV.  Y.  Standard. 

"  We  can  commend  the  book  as  both  attractive  and  useful." — N.  Y. 
America7L. 

"  The  book  is  highly  amusing  and  interesting,  as  wdl  as  instructive." 
— Pennsylvania  Inquirer. 

"  The  present  work  is  characterized  by  great  research  and  learning 
employed  in  illustrating  a  subject  of  much  general  interest."— ^a^iimorc 
Republican. 

LIFE   OF   SIR   ISAAC    NEWTON.      By 

David  Brewster,  LL.D.  F.R.S.     With  g.  Portrait  and 
Woodcuts.     18mo. 

"  The  jtresent  publication  cannot  fail  to  prove  acceptable  and  useful." 
—N.  Y.  Standard. 

"  The  biography  of  the  greatest  astronomer  that  ever  lived  cannot  bo 
fraught  with  else  than  interest."— .V.  Y.  Mercantile  Advertiser. 

"  This  is  the  most  complete  and  authentic  biography  of  this  illustrious 
man  that  has  yet  appeared." — N.  Y.  Evening  Journal. 

"An  excellent  biography,  beautifully  written,  and  comprising  a  largo 
amount  of  useful  information."— iVeic-Zfaven  Chronicle. 


6  VALUABLE    WORKS. 

PALESTINE,    OR   THE   HOLY   LAND. 

From  the  earliest  Period  to  the  present  Time.  By  the 
Rev,  Michael  Russell,  LL.D.  With  a  Map  and  nine 
Engravings.     18mo. 

"  An  interesting  hook."— Nnv- Haven  Advertiser. 

"  The  whole  work  is  imbued  with  a  sacred  engrossing  interest."— 
Connecticut  Mirror. 

"  It  is  written  in  a  very  popular  and  attractive  style."— iV.  Y.  Evening 
Journal. 

"  The  whole  volume  will  amply  repay  perusal." — N.  Y.  American. 

"  This  work  is  the  most  desirable  record  of  Palestine  we  have  ever 
seen." — American  Traveller. 

MEMOIRS    OF   THE   EMPRESS   JOSE- 
PHINE.    By  John  S.  Memes,  LL.D.     With  Portraits. 

"The  language  of  the  author  is  beautiful,  and  his  powers  of  descrip- 
tion exceedingly  fine."— iV.  Y.  Evening  Journal. 

"A  very  entertaining  book." — N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  This  is  the  first  comi)lete  biography  which  has  ever  appeared  of  that 
much  admired  woman."— iV.  Y.  Constellation. 

"  This  work  will  be  found  to  possess  a  beauty  of  language,  a  faseinatiotj 
of  style,  and  a  depth  of  interest  which  few  works  of  this  kind  car* 
claim.^'— Boston  Traveller. 

THE    COURT    AND   CAMP   OF   BONA- 
PARTE.    With  a  Portrait  of  Talleyrand. 

"  This  work  is  highly  interesting." — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  The  volume  will  "be  read  with  interest  and  instruction."— Conre, 
Mirror. 

"The  sketches  are  entertaining  and  well  written,  and  constitute  a 
ralnable  compend  for  reference  on  all  the  more  important  subjects  con- 
nected with  the  career  of  this  extraordinary  dynasty."— Washington 
(D.  C.)  Globe. 

LIVES    AND    VOYAGES    OF    DRAKE, 

CAVENDISH,  AND  DAMPIER  ;  including  an  intro- 
ductory View  of  the  earlier  Discoveries  in  the  South  Sea, 
and  the  History  of  the  Bucaniers.     With  Portraits. 
"  This  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  interesting  compilations  which  the 

press  has  sent  forth  for  some  years." — N.  Y.  Evening  Journal. 
"  While  in  the  present  work  the  young  will  find  delight,  the  aged  and 

niature  will  discover  matter  of  deep  interest  and  useful  reflection." — 

Baltimore  Minerva. 
"  These  volumes  will  beget  a  love  for  appropriate  and  useful  reading, 

and  cannot  but  be  widely  beneficial  to  individuals  and  communities."—' 

Conntcticut  Mirror. 


VALUABLE     WORKS.  7 

DESCRIPTION  OF  PITCAIRN'S  ISLAND 

AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.     With  an  authentic  Ac- 
count of  the  Mutiny  of  the  Ship  Bounty,  and  of  the  sub- 
sequent Fortunes  of  the  Mutineers.     With  Engravings. 
The  reader  may  here  find  in  faithful  history  events  of  thrilling  inter- 
est in  the  varied  fortunes  of  seamen." — Southern  Religious  Telegraph. 

"  There  is  hardly  any  reading  more  interesting  than  voyages,  and  the 
accounts  in  this  book  are  among  the  most  interesting  we  have  ever 
perused." — Boston  State.<man. 

"  A  subject  having  more  points  of  interest  can  scarcely  be  imagined, 
and  the  abilities  and  opportunities  of  the  author  give  an  assurance  that 
they  have  not  been  overlooked." — Atlas. 

"  The  story  is  exceedingly  well  told— it  is  true— and  is  embellished 
with  particulars  of  which  the  public  have  not  before  been  put  in  posses- 
sion."— Connecticut  Mirror. 

SACRED  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD, 

as  displayed  in  the  Creation  and  subsequent  events  to  the 
Deluge.     By  Sharon  Turner. 

"The  volume  contains  a  va.st  mass  of  interesting  facts  to  illustrate  the 
different  departments  of  the  natural  world.  It  bears  marks  of  great  re- 
search, and  is  worthy  of  a  careful  perusal."— Co«nec</cM«  Observer. 

"  We  can  most  heartily  recommend  this  work  as  eminently  worthy  of 
a  place  in  every  library." — Churchman.     ■ 

"  It  is  a  book  calculated  to  be  of  great  general  utility ;  and  will  be 
found  particularly  convenient  for  bible-classes,  who  are  studying  the 
Mosaic  History  of  the  Creation."— CoTnmerciai  Advertiser. 

MEMOIRS  OF  CELEBRATED  FEMALE 

SOVEREIGNS.     By  Mrs.  Jameson.     In  2  vols. 

"  A  readable  book,  in  which  good  use  is  made  of  a  subject  not  the  most 
promising  —  The  authoress  tells  a  plain  story  with  facility,  and  makes 
neat  and  appropriate  comments  with  a  happy  freedom." — Churchman. 

"Many  a  more  ambitious  history  has  been  executed  with  less  talent 
and  happy  candour  than  these  moral  and  picturesque  sketches." — Boston 
Daily  Advocate. 

AN  EXPEDITION  TO  EXPLORE  THE 

COURSE  AND  TERMINATION  OF  THE  NIGER. 

By  Richard  and  John  Lander.     In  2  vols.     Maps,  <fec, 

"  They  (the  Landers)  tell  a  story  of  no  small  interest,  and  no  few  vicis- 
situdes, with  manly  honesty  and  simplicity,  and  considerable  life  and 
vigour.  In  description  of  local  scenery  they  are  often  eminently  happy ; 
in  narrative  never  tiresome:  in  sketches  of  character  and  manners,  inter- 
estini!  and  successful,  because  artless  and  faithful." — Churchman. 

"The  incidents  were  many  and  interesting:  while  their  discoveries 
have  brought  to  our  knowledge  scores  of  savage  tribes  and  nations.  We 
know  of  few  works  of  this  description  which  have  added  as  much  to  our 
geographical  knowledge,  or  depicted  in  such  painfully  interesting  colours 
tbe  ignorance  and  wild  barbarism  of  unbaptized  Africa,"— iV.  Y.  <y>servii*-. 


e  VALUABLE    WORKS. 

INQUIRIES     CONCERNING    THE    IN 

TELLECTUAL   POWERS  AND  THE    INVESTI- 
GATION OF  TRUTH.     By  John  Abercrombie,  M.D. 

"  It  will  not  only  feed,  but  form  the  public  intellect.  It  cannot  be  dis- 
seminated too  widelj'  in  a  nation  eaper  for  knowled^'e,  keen  in  inquiry 
to  a  proverb,  and  accustomed  to  thin'k  no  matters  too  high  for  scrutiny, 
no  authority  too  venerable  for  question."— C^wrc/iTJmTi. 

"  It  will  be  read,  or  rather  studied  with  delight  and  pre''  ^'  those  who 
wish  to  cultivate  an  acquaintance  with  the  phenomena  of  tne  intellectual 
world.  The  aiuhor's  illustrations  are  clear,  and  his  reasoning  sound." — 
Southern  Religious  Telegraph. 

THE  LIVES  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAV- 
ELLERS.    By  James  A.  St.  John.     In  3  vols. 

"  The  work  is  well  edited,  and  will  unquestionably  be  perused  witli 
satisfaction  and  profit,  especially  by  the  younger  class  of  the  commu- 
nity."—B<^«;7<is^  Repository. 

"  But  few  works  have  ever  been  published  which  comprise  more  gene- 
ral information  in  a  brief  form  ■  •  ■■  It  is  a  publication  v/hich  will  commend 
itself  to  ^W."— Albany  Daily  Advertiser. 

"The  whole  is  an  interesting  publication,  and  may  be  properly  con- 
sulted both  by  the  adult  and  youthful  student."— ^Z6iO'/i. 

LIFE  OF  FREDERICK  THE   SECOND, 

KING  OF  PRUSSIA.     By  Lord  Dover.     In  2  vols. 
With  a  Portrait. 

"  Lord  Dover  has  in  these  volumes,  by  rejecting  all  that  is  exceptionable 
or  of  slight  interest,  while  he  retained  every  thing  essential,  made  up  a 
comprehensive  and  very  attractive  book."— lY.  Y.  .American. 

"  An  agreeably  written  and  highly  interesting  piece  of  biography 

The  biographer's  own  morality  is  of  the  soundest  kind  ;  and  his  reflec- 
tions, in  handling  the  infidel  principles  and  correspondence  of  the  royal 
skeptic,  are  such  as  they  should  be.  The  poison  Is  not  allowed  to  work 
by  being  passed  over  without  comment." — N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

SKETCHES  FROM  VENETIAN  HIS- 
TORY". In  2  vols.  With  Maps  and  Engravings  on 
Steel  and  Wood. 

"  A  history  of  the  Venetian  republic,  accessible  to  all  classes  and  ages, 
prepared  for  popular  use,  has  been  much  wanted  for  a  long  t^me,  and  this 
production  is  admirably  calculated  to  supply  n.'''— Baltimore  Amerirun. 

"  The  work  is  written  in  a  style  of  brilliant  narrative  from  authentic 
materials,  and  desc-ves  a  place  in  every  library." — Mobile  Gazette. 

"The  able  manner  in  which  tbe  author  has  accomplished  his  task  is 
above  all  praise." — Bostun  State.fma7i. 

"  These  '  Sketches'  are  gleaned  from  several  very  rare  Vv^orks,  and 
brought  within  the  reach  of  every  person  who  is  desirous  of  acquainting 
himself  with  the  history  of  this  ancient  people  ;  and  no  one.  after  reading 
these  little  volumes,  will  regret  his  expenditure  of  time  and  mojiey." — 
y.  E.  Review. 


VALUABLE    WORKS.  9 

INDIAN  LIVES ;  or,  an  Historical  Account 

of  those  Individuals  who  have  been  distinguished  among 
me  North  American  Natives  as  Orators,  Warriors,  States- 
men, &c.  By  B.  B.  Thatcher,  Esq.  In  2  vols. 
"The  author  has  spared  no  pains  in  making  himself  acquainted  with 
the  proper  materials  for  a  work  of  this  character  ;  and  their  arrangement 
reflects  much  credit  on  him." — N.  E.  Christian  Herald. 

"We  like  these  volumes  well.  They  are  written  with  a  perspicuity 
and  liveliness  that  recommend  them  to  all.  Mr.  Thatcher  has  ably  filled 
up  a  clrasm  in  American  literature.  These  two  volumes  hlend  the  authen- 
ticity of  history  with  the  thrilling  excitements  of  forest  narratives,  de- 
scriptive of  the  native  energy  and  grandeur  of  the  old  free  kings,  who 
ruled  the  new-found  America." — Badgefs  Weekly  Messenger. 

HISTORICAL  AND  DESCRIPTIVE  AC- 
COUNT OF  BRITISH  INDIA.  From  the  most  remote 
period  to  the  present  time.  By  several  popular  Authors. 
In  3  vols.    With  a  Map,  and  many  Engravings  on  Wood. 

"The  history  of  British  India  is  uncommonly  interesting  —  The 
whole  work  bears  the  impress  of  impartiality,  fidelity,  research,  and 
accuracy." — Baptist  Repository. 

"  Such  authentic  and  extensive  information  relating  to  this  interesting 
portion  of  the  globe  has  never  before  been  so  happily  imbodied."— iV.  Y. 
Traveller. 

LETTERS  ON  NATURAL  MAGIC.    Ad- 

dressed  to    Sir  Walter  Scott,   Bart.     By   Sir    David 
Brewster,  K.H.  LL.D. 

"  The  present  work  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  those  results  of  modem 
research  and  study,  by  which  society  at  large  will  be  benefited ;  and  the 
perusal  of  it  would  very  profitably  and  pleasantly  employ  the  hours  now 
wasted  upon  books  which  leave  not  a  single  salutary  impression  upon 
the  mind.' — Presbyterian. 

"  We  know  of  no  other  work  or  treatise  whch  has  compressed,  within 
the  same  compass,  so  much  useful  and  various  matter  upon  the  many 
subjects  falling  within  the  range  of  the  investigation."— Com.  Jidvertistr. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND.   By  W.  C. 

Taylor,  Esq.     With  Additions,  by  William  Sampson, 
Esq.     In  2  vols.     Plates. 

"  This  is  a  calm,  clear,  and  a  candid  book — A  sober  and  dispassion- 
ate book  on  this  tender  subject  was  much  wanted ...  Mr.  Taylor  has  per- 
formed his  melancholy  task  vvith  no  ungentle  spirit,  and  written  the  most 
consistent  narrative  of  those  events  that  we  have  yet  seen  —  The  work 
abounds  with  pictures  of  warand  desolation— of  happiness  and  prosperity 
— of  sudden  elevations  and  sad  overthrows ;  if  there  is  much  violence 
and  wrong,  there  is  al-o  much  nobleness  of  mind,  gentrosity  of  nature, 
and  gentleness  of  heart  '"—The  Atkemzum. 


THE 

BOY'S  AND  GIRL'S  LIBRARY. 


Numbers  already  Published. — Eaqh  Work  can  be  had 
separately. 


LIVES  OF  THE  APOSTLES  and  EARLY  MAR- 
TYRS OF  THE  CHURCH.  18mo.  [No.  I.  of  the  Boy's 
and  Girl's  Library.  Designed  for  Sunday  Reading.] 
This,  as  well  as  some  of  the  subsequent  numbers  of  the  Boy's 
and  Girl's  Library,  is  especiaUy  designed  for  Sunday  reading, 
and  the  object  of  the  writer  has  been  to  direct  the  minds  of 
youthful  readers  to  the  Bible,  by  exciting  an  interest  in  the  lives 
and  actions  of  the  eminent  apostles  and  martyrs  who  bore  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  of  their  missions  and  of  the  Redeemer  by 
their  preaching  and  their  righteous  death.  The  style  is  beauti- 
fully simple,  and  the  narrative  is  interspersed  with  comments 
and  reflections  remarkable  for  their  devout  spirit,  and  for  the 
clearness  with  which  they  elucidate  whatever  might  appear  to 
the  tender  mind  either  contradictory  or  unintelligible.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  child  to  read  these  affecting  histories  vnthout 
becoming  interested ;  and  the  interest  is  so  directed  and  im- 
proved as  to  implant  and  foster  the  purest  principles  of  reUgicn 
and  moraUty.  The  most  esteemed  rehgious  publications 
throughout  the  Union  have  united  in  cordial  expressions  of 
praise  to  this  as  well  as  the  other  Scriptural  numbers  of  the 
Library,  and  the  pubUshers  have  had  the  gratification  of  re- 
ceiving from  individuals  eminent  for  piety,  the  warmest  com- 
mendations not  only  of  the  plan,  but  also  of  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  so  far  executed. 


JUVENILE    WORKS 

THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON;  or,  ADVEN- 
TURES OF  A  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  and  FOUR 
SONS  ON  A  DESERT  ISLAND.  In  2  vols.  ISmo. 
[Nos.  II.  &  III.  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library.] 
The  purpose  of  this  pleasing  story  is  to  convey  instruction  in 
the  arts  and  Natural  History,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  inculcate 
by  example  principles  which  tend  to  the  promotion  of  social 
happiness.  Every  one  has  read  or  heard  of  Robinson  Crusoe, 
and  the  unrivalled  and  long-continued  popularity  of  that  admi- 
rable narrative,  proves  that  the  tastes  and  feelings  to  which  it 
addresses  itself  are  among  the  strongest  and  most  universal 
which  belong  to  human  nature.  The  adventures  of  the  Swisa 
family  are  somewhat  similar  in  character,  and,  of  course,  in  in- 
terest; and  they  illustrate,  in  the  most  forcible  and  pleasing 
manner,  the  efficacy  of  piety,  industry,  ingenuity,  and  good- 
temper,  in  smoothing  difficulties  and  procuring  enjoyments 
under  the  most  adverse  circumstances.  The  story  abounds 
with  instruction  and  entertainment,  and  well  deserves  the  high 
encomium  that  has  been  passed  upon  it,  of  being  one  of  the 
best  cliildren's  books  ever  written. 

"  Tliis  little  work  is  so  much  of  a  story,  that  it  will  seem  a 
relaxation  rather  than  a  school-task,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
wiU  give  the  juvenile  reader  more  practical  instruction  in 
natural  history,  economy,  and  the  means  of  contriving  and  helping 
one's  self,  than  many  books  of  the  very  best  pretensions  in  the 
department  of  instruction." — Boston  Daily  Advocate. 

"  We  do  not  think  a  parent  could  select  a  more  acceptable  or 
judicious  gift." — New-Haven  Religious  Intelligencer. 

"  The  story  has  all  that  wdld  charm  of  adventure  and  dis- 
covery which  has  made  Robinson  Crusoe  such  a  wonder  to 
every  generation  since  it  was  written." — Baptist  Repository. 
"  This  work  is  interesting  and  truly  valuable." — U.  S.  Gazette. 
"Well  calculated  to  claim  the  attention  of  the  interesting 
part  of  the  community  to  which  it  is  addressed." — N.  Y. 
Advocate. 


JUVENILE    WORKS. 

SUNDAY  EVENINGS ;  or,  an  EASY  INTRO- 
DUCTION TO  THE  READING  OF  THE  BIBLE.  [Nos. 
IV.  and  XIV.  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library.] 

The  title  of  this  excellent  little  work  sufficiently  explains 
its  object.  As  an  introduction  to  the  knowledge  of  Scripture 
History,  and  an  incentive  to  the  study  of  the  Sacred  Volume, 
it  is  calculated  to  produce  the  most  happy  eifects  upon  the 
minds  of  children;  and  the  siraphcity  of  the  language  pre- 
serves to  the  story  all  those  charms  which  are  inherent  in  the 
narrative,  but  are  sometimes  lost  to  very  youthful  readers  by 
their  want  of  a  perfect  understanding  of  the  words  they  read. 
Besides  a  developed  and  connected  view,  in  easy  language, 
of  the  Scripture  story  itself,  the  author  has  endeavoured  to  in- 
tersperse in  the  narrative  such  notices  of  the  countries  spoken 
of,  together  with  such  references  to  the  New  Testament  and 
practical  remarks,  as  would  tend  to  make  the  book  either  more 
interesting,  more  intellectually  improving,  or  more  valuable  in 
a  moral  and  religious  light :  and  it  cannot  fail  oi  obtaining  the 
approbation  of  all  judicious  and  pious  parents,  and  of  proving, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  an  assistance  to  the  Christian  mother, 
in  giving  to  her  children  an  early  knowledge  and  love  of  his 
Sacred  Word. 

"The  style  is  simple,  the  sentiments  expressed  Scriptural, 
and  the  book  every  way  calculated  as  an  assistant  in  the  in- 
struction of  children. —  The  Presbyterian. 

"  To  be  commended  cordially." — The  Churchnan. 

"We  recommend  it  particularly  to  mothers  and  guardians 
of  the  young,  confident  that  it  will  obtain  their  approbation,  and 
prove  an  assistance  to  them  in  giving  those  under  their  care  an 
early  knowledge  and  love  of  the  Sacred  Word."— J.m.  Traveller 

"  The  work  is  well  worthy  the  attention  of  parents  and  in- 
structers,  to  whom  we  most  cheerfully  recommend  it." — Boston 
Mirror. 

"  It  will  be  found,  we  think,  a  useful  auxihary  in  the  hands 
of  parents,  and  a  most  winning  book  to  children." — Connecticvt 
Journal. 


JUVENILE    WORKS. 

THE   SON  OF  A    GENIUS.     Br  Mrs.  Hofland 

[No.  V.  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library.] 

This  admirable  story  has  been  too  long  famihar  to  the  pub- 
lic— at  least  to  that  portion  of  it  which  has  advanced  beyond 
the  period  of  childhood — to  require  either  eulogy  or  description. 
It  has  for  many  years  maintamed  its  place  among  the  best  and 
most  esteemed  juvenile  works  in  the  EngUsh  language ;  and  its 
popularity  is  easily  accounted  for  by  the  touching  interest  of  the 
incidents,  and  the  purity  of  the  principles  it  iaculcates  both 
of  wisdom  and  rehgion.  The  publishers  were  induced  to  re- 
print it  as  one  of  the  numbers  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library, 
partly  by  the  advice  and  sohcitations  of  many  of  their  friends, 
and  their  own  knowledge  of  its  merits,  and  partly  by  the  con- 
sideration that  it  has  long  been  out  of  print,  and  that  it  was  veiy 
difficult  to  procure  a  copy. 

"  '  The  Son  of  a  Genius'  will  aflford  a  profitable  study  to 
parents,  as  well  as  an  exquisite  treat  to  youths.  It  is  an  admi- 
rable tale :  fascinating  in  its  delineations,  admirable  in  its  moral, 
just  as  a  picture  of  the  mind,  a  faitliful  and  true  portraiture 
of  the  results  of  genius  vaccilating,  unappUed,  and  turning  to 
ruin,  and  the  same  genius  supported  by  sound  moral  principle, 
strengthened  by  judicious  exercise  and  continuous  effort,  useful 
anS  triumphant.  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  importance 
of  method,  perseverance,  and  industry  to  produce  the  perfect 
fruits  of  genius ;  and  the  utter  uselessness  of  delicate  taste, 
vivid  concepaon,  rapid  performance,  aided  by  generous  affec- 
tions and  engaging  manner,  to  the  attainment  of  excellence, 
without  that  steady  application,  which  nothing  but  just  moral 
principle  can  ensure.  The  story  is  not,  however,  a  refined,  met- 
aphysical disquisition  on  genius ;  but  a  simple,  engaging  tale, 
which  lets  in  upon  the  reader  a  sort  of  experience  worth  a  hun- 
dred essays." — Connecticut  Journal. 

"  To  youth  of  both  sexes  this  work  forms  an  excellent  piece 
of  reading." — The  Pennsylvanian. 

"  To  our  young  friends  it  will  afford  much  entertainment." — 
Boston  Mirror. 


JUVENILE   WORKS. 

NATURAL  HISTORY;    or   UNCLE    PHILIP'S 

CONVERSATIONS  with  the  CHILDREN  about 
TOOLS  AND  TRADES  among  the  INFERIOR 
ANIMALS.  [No  VI.  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library.] 
The  wonders  of  God's  providence,  as  they  are  manifested 
in  the  figures,  habits,  and  performances  of  the  various  creatures 
which  fill  the  earth,  the  air,  and  the  waters, — the  endless  varieties 
of  form,  the  accuracy  and  ingenuity  of  their  contrivances, 
whether  for  security  or  sustenance,  and  the  admirable  adapta- 
tion of  their  instruments  to  the  works  their  instinct  prompts 
them  to  construct,  supply  an  exhaustless  theme  for  observation 
and  astonishment,  and  call  forth  in  the  mind  the  most  exalted 
ideas  of  the  Supreme  wisdom  and  beneficence.  In  the  capti- 
vating volume  wliich  torms  the  sixth  number  of  the  Boy's  and 
Girl's  Library,  a  portion  of  this  department  of  science  is  treated 
of  with  consummate  ability,  and  the  work  has  deservedly  re- 
ceived the  highest  encomiums,  not  only  for  the  extent,  utihty, 
and  interesting  nature  of  the  information  it  conve3^s,  but  also  for 
the  skill  with  wliich  the  ideas  and  language  are  adapted  to  the 
tastes  as  well  as  the  capacities  of  youtMul  readers.  But  these 
are  not  its  only  or  its  greatest  merits:  its  lughest  claims  to 
praise  are  the  tone  of  sincere  and  earnest  piety  winch  pervades 
the  conversations,  and  the  excellence  of  the  precepts  drawn 
from  the  wonders  they  disclose. 

*'  It  is  written  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and 
with  that  deUghtful  freshness  of  impression  from  natural  sights 
which  revives  the  days  of  our  childhood.  Here,  then,  is  a 
beautiful  and  appropriate  present  for  the  Christian  parent." — 
The  Presbyterian. 

"This  work  deserves  high  praise.  It  displays  much  tact 
and  ingenuity,  guided  by  sound  judgment,  and  controlled  by 
fervent  piety.  Such  books  for  the  young  are  scarce,  and  Ukely 
to  be  so ;  for  few  are  able  to  produce  them.  Children  will  de- 
light in  it,  and  profit  by  it."— TAe  Churchman. 

"  We  look  upon  this  as  one  among  the  best  juvenile  works 
we  have  met  with." — Baptist  Repository. 


JUVENILE    WORKS. 

INDIAN  TRAITS;  being  SKETCHES  op  thr 
MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  and  CHARACTER  op 
THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  NATIVES.  By  B.  B. 
THi.TCHER,  Esq.  [Nos.  VIL  and  VIII.  of  the  Boy's 
and  Girl's  Library.] 

The  appearance,  character,  and  habits  of  the  North  American 
Indians  have  long  been  a  favourite  and  fertile  theme  for  writers 
as  well  as  readers,  and  accurate  descriptions  of  them  are  equally 
instructive  and  agreeable.  These  form  the  subject  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  numbers  of  the  Library,  and  they  are  ad- 
mitted to  contain  much  correct  and  interesting  information.  A 
larger  work  (in  the  Family  Library),  by  the  same  author,  en 
titled  "Indian  Biography,"  treats  of  the  history  of  those  re- 
markable members  of  the  human  family  :  the  work  now  under 
consideration  makes  no  pretensions  to  that  character,  but  is  en- 
tirely descriptive ;  and  it  is  entitled  to  high  praise,  not  only  as 
being  the  first  attempt  to  render  the  subject  attractive  to 
youthftd  readers,  but  also  for  the  abiUty  with  which  the  object 
is  accomphshed. 

"  These  two  little  volumes  furnish  the  leading  traits  of  Indian 
character  in  a  style  adapted  to  instruct  while  it  interests  the 
youthful  reader." — N.  F.  American. 

"  Most  entertaining  and  excellent  volumes." — N.  Y.  Weekly 
Messenger. 

**  The  author  has  produced  a  work  which  will  not  only  be 
valuable  to  the  young,  but  to  all  who  wish  for  a  concise  and 
just  delineation  of  what  is  most  desirable  to  be  known  respect- 
ing the  character  and  customs  of  the  natives  of  North  America." 
••-Boston  Traveller. 

"The  language  is  easy  and  famihar,  and  the  descriptions 
quite  interesting." — Atkinson's  Evening  Post. 

"  Two  volumes  more  interesting  or  more  useful  were  never 
placed  in  the  hands  of  American  youth." — Boston  Mirror. 

"  These  little  volumes  equal  in  interest  all  that  have  gone 
before  them  in  the  same  family." — Troy  Bttdget 


JUVENILE    WORKS. 

TALES  FROM  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     [Nos.  IX, 
X.  and  XL  of  the  Boy's  and  Girl's  Library.] 

The  writer  of  these  Tales  has  had  in  view  two  chief  pur- 
poses,— the  one  to  convey  to  the  juvenile  reader  a  general  idea 
of  the  incidents  connected  with  the  discovery  and  subsequent 
history  of  the  American  continent ;  the  other  to  excite  an  in- 
terest in  the  subject  which  shall  create  a  desire  for  more  minute 
and  extensive  information.  These  purposes  have  been  effected 
with  much  success,  and  the  volumes  will  be  found  instructive 
and  entertaining.  In  the  majority  of  instances,  the  Tales  have 
been  selected  with  reference  to  the  illustration  of  some  moral 
principle ;  and  the  frequent  opportunities  afforded  for  the  intro- 
duction of  reflections  leading  to  the  cultivation  of  piety  and  re- 
ligion have  been  ably  and  zealously  improved.  As  a  school- 
book  this  collection  of  Historical  Tales  is  calculated  to  be  emi- 
nently serviceable ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  their  intro- 
duction into  seminaries  will  be  attended  with  both  pleasure  ajid 
advantage  to  the  scholars. 

"  It  is  sufficient  praise  for  this  work  to  say  that  it  is  by  the 
author  of  '  American  Popular  Lessons,'  of  whose  powers  of  pre- 
senting knowledge  to  the  young  mind  in  a  graceful  and  attract- 
ive garb  the  pubhc  are  not  now  to  be  informed." — N.  Y.  Evening 
Post. 

"  A  collection  which  is  really  deserving  of  its  title.  We  have 
looked  over  these  Tales  with  great  pleasure,  and  find  them  full 
of  interest  and  instruction." — N.  Y.  Advocate. 

"  One  of  the  best  works  that  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  our 
youth. ...  It  presents  aU  the  circumstances  respecting  the  dis- 
covery of  this  country,  in  a  condensed  form,  clothed  in  language 
calculated  to  interest  the  young.  It  ought  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  youth ;  and  it  cannot  be  too  early  or  too  extensively  in- 
troduced into  our  schools." —  The  Cabinet  of  Religion. 

'  The  stories  are  highly  interesting,  and  abound  v^dth  pleasing 
illustrations  and  notices  of  the  history,  original  inhabitants,  pro- 
ductions, and  first  settlers  of  our  own  portion  of  the  globe." — 
Courier  and  Enquirer. 


INTERESTING  WORKS 

PUBLISHED  BY  J.  &  J.  HARPER,  82  CLIFF-STREET, 

NEW-YORK, 
AND   FOR   SALE   BY   THE   BOOKSELLERS   GENERALLY. 


JUVENILE    WORKS. 
LIVES  OF  THE  APOSTLES  AND  EARLY  MARTYRS 
OF  THE  CHURCH.    18mo,    (Suitable  for  Sunday  Reading^ 

THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON;   or,  Adventures  o 
a  Father  and  Mother  and  Four  Sons  on  a  Desert  Island.    In 
vols.  ISino.    V/ith  Engravings, 

SUNDAY  EVENINGS ;  or,  an  easy  Introduction  to  the 
Reading  of  the  Bible.  18mo.  (Suitable  for  Sunday  Reading  ) 
With  Engravings. 

THE  SON  OF  A  GENIUS.  By  Mrs.  Hofland.  18mo. 
With  Engravings. 

NATURAL  HISTORY ;  or,  Uncle  Philip's  Conversations 
with  the  Children  about  Tools  and  Trades  among  the  Inferior 
Animals.    ISmo.    With  numerous  Engravings. 

INDIAN  TRAITS.  By  the  Author  of  "  Indian  Lives.' 
In  2  vols.  18mo.    With  Engravings. 

TALES  FROM  AMERICAN  HISTORY.  By  the  Author 
of"  American  Popular  Lessons."  3  vols.  IBmo.  Engravings. 

THE  YOUNG  CRUSOE ;  or,  the  Shipwrecked  Boy.  By 
Mrs.  Hofland.    18mo.    With  Engravings. 

ROXOBEL.    By  Mrs.  Sherwood.    In  3  vols*.  iSmo. 

HISTORY  OF  INSECTS.    With  Engravings.    ISma 

ADVENTURES  IN  THE  POLAR  SEAS  AND  RK. 
GIONS.    l8mo.    With  Engravings. 


INTERESTING  WORKS. 

THE  WORKS  OF  MARIA   EDGEWORTH.     Complete 
Edition.    [In  press."] 

NARRATIVE  OF  SIR  EDWARD  SEAWARD'S  SHIP- 
WRECK.   Edited  by  Miss  Jane  Porter.    In  3  vols.  12mo. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  By  the  Rev.  Georgb 
R.  Gleig.    In  2  vols.  18mo.    With  a  Map. 

ADVENTURES  IN  AFRICA.    18mo.    With  Engraviags. 

AFFECTING  SCENES ;  being  Passages  from  the  Diary  of 
a  late  Physician.    In  2  vols.  18mo. 

THE  PERCY  ANECDOTES.  Revised  Edition.  To 
which  is  added,  a  valuable  Collection  of  AMERICAN  ANEC- 
DOTES.    8vo.    Portraits. 

LIFE  OF  WICLIF.    By  C.  W.  Le  Bas.    18mo.    Portrait. 

THE  CONSISTENCY  OF  REVELATION  V^TH  IT- 
SELF AND  WITH  HUMAN  REASON.  By  Philip  Nich- 
olas Shuttlewoeth,  D.D.    18rao. 

LUTHER  AND  THE  LUTHERAN  REFORMATION* 
By  Rev,  John  Scott,  M.A.    In  2  vols.  18rao,    Portraits. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REFORMED  RELIGION  IN 
FRAJ^CE.  By  Rev.  Edward  Smedley,  M.A.  In  2  vols. 
38mo.    Portraits. 

XENOPHON.  Translated  by  Edward  Spelman,  Esq.,  and 
Sir  M.  A.  Cooper.    In  2  vols.  18mo.    Portrait. 

THE  ORATIONS  OF  DEMOSTHENES  By  Leland. 
In  2  vols.  18mo.    Portrait. 

SALLUST.    By  Rose.    18mo.    Portrait. 

CiESAR'S  COMMENTARIES.  By  Duncan.  In  2  vol*. 
ISmo.    Portrait. 

THE  FAMILY  LIBRARY— comprismg a  number  of  well- 
written  vs^orks,  on  a  variety  of  useful  subjects,  suitable  fo 
waders  of  all  age»— nublished  in  a  neat  and  cheap  fomi. 


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